


A Todoroki

by AsjJohnson



Category: My Hero Academia, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Adopted Dabi (My Hero Academia), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Attempt at Humor, Clingy Todoroki Shouto, Conspiracy Theorist Todoroki Shouto, Dabi & Takami Keigo | Hawks are Childhood Friends, Dabi does not dye his hair, Dabi is Not Todoroki Touya, Dabi is Todoroki Touya, Dabi is a Todoroki, Gen, Rescue Hero Todoroki Shouto, Shouto Todoroki is confused, prankster Toga Himiko
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:41:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 28,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25739740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsjJohnson/pseuds/AsjJohnson
Summary: When there’s one too many coincidences, Shouto Todoroki comes to the conclusion that Dabi is his brother. Dabi denies it. ...And denies it. And denies it some more.Or, Dabi inadvertently gets adopted.(Now with subplots: Toga and Midoriya are semi dating...? Shouto's learning new ways of using his quirk, and has a work-study with a rescue hero. Eraserhead has secret meetings. Revenge for the missing cookies! Shigaraki still wants to recruit Shouto, somehow, if he can think of a plan. What is Dabi's backstory? Will Endeavor ever learn Shouto's not going to show up??)
Relationships: Aizawa Shouta | Eraserhead & Dabi, Dabi & Todoroki Shouto, Dabi & Todoroki Shouto & Todoroki Fuyumi, Dabi & Toga Himiko, Dabi & Toga Himiko & Kurogiri, Midoriya Izuku & Toga Himiko
Comments: 193
Kudos: 464
Collections: Recc List





	1. Coming to Conclusions

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [In Which Dabi is Definitely Not a Todoroki](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23243566) by [naggeluide](https://archiveofourown.org/users/naggeluide/pseuds/naggeluide). 

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dabi denies being a Todoroki, and Shouto doesn't believe him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve seen a few fics (at least two or three) where Dabi denies he’s Touya but secretly is. ...I haven’t found one (as of yet) where he actually isn’t.
> 
> I just made an account here and don't know what I'm doing.
> 
> I’m also new to writing My Hero Academia fics and not the most knowledgeable about the series, so... bare with me a bit. I’m gonna make this an AU (which it kinda is anyhow) so that I won’t have to fit the story into the timeline somewhere and I can instead focus on having some fun. Let me know if I’ve messed up something, but remember one thing: don’t trust any known events that happened while Bakugo was kidnapped.

Dabi lazed on a couch at their new hideout: a rough-looking apartment that the mysterious boss-on-the-monitor had given them. The other members of the League were just as bored as Dabi was—save for Shigaraki, who kept watching the Bakugo-Todoroki match of the Sports Festival over and over.

They'd tried kidnapping Bakugo Katsuki because of that footage.

The kid hadn't wanted to join them after all.

End of story.

Except Shigaraki had become obsessed with figuring out what went wrong. To the point where there hadn't been any real plans for the League since then.

Dabi glanced toward the TV for a moment—

Wait. That wasn't the final match.

_"Have you finally accepted your purpose?"_

_"—finally accepted your purpose?"_

_"Have you finally accepted—?"_

Under the light of the TV, Shigaraki's face split into an ugly grin. "Looks like the little Todoroki has _daddy issues_."

Dabi couldn't help muttering, "With _Endeavor_ as a parent, who wouldn't?"

Shigaraki turned away from the screen, raising his voice to speak to the whole room. "Don't you see? We kidnapped the _wrong one_!"

* * *

It had been over two weeks and there still wasn't any action for the League.

Shigaraki seemed to be planning something big, all while gathering forces and waiting for the right time to strike. The core members all recognized he was getting fidgety, however. The mysterious 'master' Dabi had yet to meet in person was apparently having a harder time learning of UA's schedule now, and it was obvious that Shigaraki was determined to have a second try at recruiting a UA student.

So everyone felt like they were holding their breath, just waiting.

The tides were changing for the better, however. Their previous attack had been a success even with Bakugo's refusal and quick escape. Would've been nice if the kidnapping had lasted long enough to be bigger news—and the loss of the Nomu factory was a setback—but their attack on the students was enough. The public was starting to see just how lacking hero society was.

Dabi was currently on the street for a simple errand—which was a little harder now that his face had been on the news—when he turned a corner, and came face-to-face with Shouto Todoroki. Just like that.

Dabi's first instinct was to hit him with a blast of fire. He was _Endeavor's_ son, after all. But then Dabi remembered that Shigaraki _wanted_ him, and redirected the burst of blue flame as best he could.

Todoroki also seemed reluctant to attack, though his fighting pose promised he wouldn't go down easily.

So, what should be Dabi's plan of action? Shigaraki wanted to try turning the little Todoroki. And Dabi might not like the stuck up mini-Endeavor, but if they _could_ turn the boy to their side, Dabi would _love_ to see Endeavor's face when he realized his own son had become a villain.

The problem, however, was that Shouto Todoroki's capture was still a vague, future event. And even if Dabi pushed up the timeline, he had no way of capturing the teen. Dabi was by himself. There was no Mr. Compress or Kurogiri to make transportation easier. What was Dabi to do, knock the kid out and drag him all the way back to the hideout? Threaten him into coming with Dabi? Todoroki wouldn't be too eager to hear out the League after that.

The Bakugo kid hadn't seemed too happy about the whole kidnapping thing even _with_ the easy transport. Although, to be fair, part of that was probably just the brat's sparkling personality.

The point was, Dabi couldn't just kidnap the little Todoroki. He had to do something else. Maybe plant the idea that the League of Villains wasn't so bad. That they had similar goals. Then, when Shigaraki had a plan in place, it would be more likely to turn out in their favor.

Maybe he could use some of what Shigaraki had deduced from the Sports Festival footage.

* * *

Shouto walked down the street toward a particular hospital.

It was the weekend, and though the new UA dorms were supposed to safeguard the students, they weren't meant to be a prison. Shouto _was_ allowed to visit his mother. It would be a short visit, and he had his cell phone in case of an emergency.

The hospital was only a little farther, and Shouto let a subtle smile come to his lips at the thought of seeing her in only a few more minutes.

Then he turned a corner, and a member of the League of Villains was right in front of him.

He instantly got into a defensive stance, but hoped he wouldn't have to use his ice—hoped he wouldn't have to injure a villain again without a provisional license.

An armful of blue fire was thrown at him, too much to completely dodge. His eyes widened as he leapt to the side, his skin instinctively beginning to frost.

But then the villain pulled back. Shouto was sure of it.

Shouto landed safely on his feet, pivoting back toward the villain.

The flames left a blackened mark on the side of the alley he'd ended up in, and Shouto glanced between the mark and Dabi's slightly smoking arm. The attack had gone wide. Even if Shouto hadn't moved, it would've only grazed him.

Dabi muttered a curse, then said, "I'm not here to hurt you. This isn't a League attack."

"This isn't an attack," Shouto repeated, deadpan with disbelief.

"It's not," Dabi confirmed.

Neither of them moved for a moment.

Shouto glanced quickly to the left and right, checking for any sign of the other villains, but not wanting Dabi out of his sight.

"Then why are you here?" Shouto asked. He should stall for time, see if he could find an opening to run and then call for help.

"Can't a guy go for a walk?" Dabi relaxed his posture and put his hands in his pockets—a lack of concern or an attempt at making Shouto lower his guard? "Us villains have lives outside of the League, too, you know."

Shouto supposed that must've been true, theoretically, but kept up his defensive pose.

Why would Dabi just coincidentally be walking by his mother's hospital?

Dabi lifted an eyebrow, seeming to focus on Shouto's raised right hand. "Are you still rejecting your fire, little Todoroki?"

What?

Dabi's eyes seemed to light up, a hint of a smirk coming to his face.

Shouto narrowed his eyes. How did Dabi know so much about him? He remembered the villain saying his name back at the training camp. Now he somehow knew how his quirk worked, _and_ that he hadn't liked his fire?

The smirk grew into a grin. "I know why you don't like your left side, Shouto Todoroki... It's because it reminds you of _him_ , isn't it? You hate Endeavor as much as I do. You know hero society is flawed."

Shouto searched Dabi's smug expression. How did he...?

But no. His father didn't matter anymore. Shouto accepted his quirk as a whole now. Endeavor didn't matter. But only a handful of people knew Shouto had ever felt such a way.

And then there was Dabi, coming from the direction of his mother's hospital—mentioning a life outside of the League.

Dabi, who somehow knew about his quirk, knew the meaning behind his reluctance to use his left side, knew about his father.

Dabi, who had a fire quirk. And blue eyes.

He stared at the villain for a long moment.

"Are you a Todoroki?"

Dabi jerked back in shock. "What?" His mouth opened and closed a few times, before spitefully saying, " _No_ , I'm not a Todoroki!"

He'd hesitated. That meant it was true, right?

* * *

Dabi shut the apartment door—perhaps slightly harder than normal. He was still tense from the accusation, unable to loosen up his muscles. The best he could do was force a bored expression onto his face.

Of course the others would see through it.

Twice and Toga both looked up at the sound of the door.

"What happened?" Twice asked, then waved an arm in angry dismissal. " _Who cares_!?"

"I ran into Shigaraki's new pet project—he asked if I was a _Todoroki_."

No one said anything for several seconds. Twice and Toga staring at him from the couch as he stared back, trying to communicate everything through his gaze.

"...Are you?" Toga eventually asked.

" _No_!" Dabi threw his hands up and walked out of the room.

Through the thin walls, he could hear them begin to call out belated questions about the meeting.

* * *

Shouto started a list.

If he was going to prove Dabi was his brother, he needed to do it right.

Touya Todoroki—the eldest and only missing Todoroki sibling—was legally dead.

Dabi was the only League of Villains member Shouto knew of who didn't have a name or history.

Touya would have been twenty four years old.

Dabi was most likely in his twenties.

Shouto didn't remember much about Touya, but he _did_ know he'd had their father's red hair and light blue eyes.

Dabi's chilling blue eyes stood out startlingly well against the dark colors of his hair and outfit. In fact, that combination of black hair and blue eyes seemed almost unnatural somehow. There was a chance Dabi was dying his hair.—Touya probably would.

Touya had a weak composition. Shouto never knew _exactly_ what his father had meant by that, but he could guess. His father had wanted a child that could regulate their body temperature. Touya didn't have an ice quirk, and his flames were hotter than their father's. Touya probably had trouble withstanding his own fire.

Dabi's fire burned blue and felt hotter than Shouto's own. Dabi was covered in bad burns, and Shouto had noticed his arm smoking after the instinctive attack in the alley.

Touya had experienced their father's harsh training, and knew just how far their father had pushed their mother. He would hate Endeavor as much as any of them. He would also know how Shouto's quirk worked.

Dabi seemed to have a personal grudge against Endeavor. He also seemed to know what Shouto's father was like behind closed doors, and knew some of the intricacies of Shouto's quirk. These things were the most telling, since Dabi _shouldn't_ know that. The only person Shouto had ever spoken to was Midoriya, and he couldn't imagine Fuyumi or Natsuo telling just anyone. And how many people outside of class 1-A would have seen Shouto in action enough to learn how his quirk worked?

Touya was family.

Dabi hadn't wanted to hurt Shouto.

Shouto put his pen down, and looked back over the list. It seemed pretty obvious, didn't it? Dabi was Touya Todoroki. He looked like him, had the same quirk as him, knew things only he should know—and there was no evidence to the contrary.

* * *

"Hello?" came Fuyumi's voice over the phone.

"I think I found Touya."

"Shouto..." She hesitated, her voice filled with concern. "Touya died almost ten years ago. Are you okay? What is this about?"

Shouto sighed. He was only scaring her, wasn't he? Maybe he shouldn't be re-opening old wounds. But if Touya really was alive, then he knew she would want to know. "Fuyumi, I know this is a lot to take in, but I don't think Touya died. There's this... person—with a fire quirk. He's Touya's age, and knows things about our family. I think it's him."

"...Did this person claim to be Touya?"

"Well, no, but he didn't give me a real name, and—"

"Okay. Good. That's good. But let me stop you right now. I know you were young at the time... but we went to Touya's funeral. His grave is at the cemetery."

"It wasn't a traditional funeral. He might have faked his death, changed his name. Maybe Father was in on it. It would have been bad publicity if it got out that one of us had run away from home. Maybe he'd lied to keep us from searching for Touya."

"Shouto." Her voice was firm, yet gentle. "Just breathe for a minute. You need to step back and think about this rationally. Yes, having one of us run away from home wouldn't have looked good, but neither was having one of us _die_. Especially since Dad refused to give details to the public. And, remember, there are a lot of people with fire quirks."

"But his flames are _hot_ —really hot. They're even blue." Shouto knew there was a desperate tone leaking into his voice, but he couldn't stop it.

"Touya's flames weren't blue," she said in confusion.

"But we know they were already hotter than Father's—they could have passed into the blue range during the past ten years."

There was a staticy sigh. "I don't know, Shouto. It sounds like this is all conjecture. If you're serious about this, you need to find some hard evidence." She paused a moment. "Please don't tell anyone else about this until you _have_ that evidence, okay?"

Shouto frowned, but he could see her point. He would need to build his case more before letting Natsuo, or anyone else, in on this. Besides, it wouldn't be good if Dabi's real identity got out. "Okay."

He would send Fuyumi the list he was compiling, and keep her up-to-date as he added to it. He was sure he could convince her he was right, and then the two of them would figure out where to go from there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, Shigaraki's actually the one who figured out the personal stuff about Shouto (who has apparently forgotten about the Sports Festival coverage). I wonder how Shouto would react if he knew it was Shigaraki? "...Or maybe Touya'd had white hair?"
> 
> This is actually my second My Hero Academia fic, but the first one's an unfinished oneshot. Had started playing with this idea, instead. So... this fic has a lot of short, funny scenes. Also some longer scenes. Um... I guess it just depends on my mood? Not sure how long the fic will be yet. I'd first thought it'd be one chapter, or two. Now... maybe five? If everything works out. I'd thought up a scene that happens near the end, and I don't know how the story will get to that point. Actually, I'm not really sure where the ending point should be. Not sure if there'll be a good place to stop or if I'll just lose interest eventually.
> 
> So, the fic's an AU with a divergence point at Bakugo's kidnapping. I'd like to have characters in-character and have events and things correct, but I don't feel like re-watching the whole anime closely (and I haven't read the manga), so let me know if something's off. Also let me know if you like the fic, yeah?


	2. Pranks and Bonding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dabi still denies being a Todoroki, and Toga's being an annoying brat.

Despite Shouto having taken the same path to his mother's hospital, on the same day, at the same time, exactly one week after running into Dabi, the two of them had not met again.

However, the plan hadn't been a total loss.

Shouto had just gotten back to UA after the visit with his mother. Walking through the dorms' common area, on his way to his room, he could hear Iida and Midoriya talking. He slowed his steps just enough to listen in on the conversation.

Midoriya, jittery and apparently _trying_ to whisper, said, "Iida, that crazy villain girl keeps sending me texts, what do I do?!"

Iida, as usual, remained collected. He only frowned. "How did she even get your number?"

"I _don't know_! She said something about her friend's brother giving it to her."

Shouto let a smile come to his face. He'd been pretty sure that Dabi was really his older brother Touya, but hearing it said aloud was somehow comforting. Like a bright, soothing feeling at his heart.

Iida said, "Perhaps this 'friend's brother' has a technology-based quirk?"

Shouto left as Midoriya mumbled about different technology quirks and the possibility of Toga repeatedly finding any new phone number he were to get. Shouto did feel a little bad for Midoriya—he hadn't realized his classmate would be this upset—but Toga did promise she only wanted to talk.

Shouto should call Dabi soon. Toga might've already told him about their deal.

* * *

"Hello, Touya."

" _Who_ —?" Dabi cut himself off. That voice sounded _familiar_. "Little Todoroki?" he asked. He paused to frown at his phone for a moment before putting it back to his ear. "My name isn't Touya. How did you even get this number?"

What was going on? There were only a handful of people Dabi had given that number to, and none of them were Shouto effing Todoroki. And who in the world was 'Touya'?

* * *

Himiko and several of the other Vanguard Action Squad members were at the apartment. They'd been around each other so often, they were pretty much family now. With their villain status being public knowledge, it would be hard for some to go home without worrying about getting arrested. But most just came to the apartment to hang out—like her!

The past several days, Dabi had been talking to the Todoroki boy over the phone. Tomura had told Dabi to keep talking to him so he would also join their new family, so Dabi had to.

Himiko personally thought the whole mistaken identity thing was hilarious. She teased Dabi about it all the time—it was the only thing that could get such a reaction out of him.

Himiko sat on the couch humming softly to herself, her eyes on the apartment's small hallway, just waiting.

A raw scream came from the bathroom, making the other members jump. Himiko grinned.

A few minutes later, the bathroom door slammed open and simultaneously burst into flame. Dabi looked _really_ angry. Or at least red.

Not like blood, though.

His hair wasn't as noticeable as his face, but Himiko could make out a _few_ glittering strands of red-orange in the light.

"Your roots are showing," she said through her grin, " _Tou-_ ya."

Dabi charged at her, and she flipped over the couch to dodge the blue flames.

"Hey, hey, don't destroy the furniture," Tomura complained half-heartedly.

"You rigged a bottle of _bleach_ to fall on me for an effing joke!" Another fist of blue flames. "Do you _realize_ what effing bleach does to open wounds?!"

Himiko laughed as she stayed a step ahead of him, dancing around the apartment. Using her knives, she pushed Dabi's arm to the side. That made even _more_ beautiful red. The best kind of red.

They really were so much like family now, playing like siblings. It was great.

"It could have gotten in my _eyes_!"

Mr. Compress commented, "I didn't know we had hair bleach."

"It wasn't that type of bleach," Dabi growled.

* * *

Dabi studied his reflection in the bathroom mirror. It had been a day, and the irritation to his skin had faded. A few more burns wouldn't have mattered much to him, however. Just would've been annoying.

It was barely worth mentioning, but his hair was still black, of course. Not like bleach was some instantaneous hair-lightener. It might've been _slightly_ lighter in some spots, but who could think him, of all people, vain enough to run to a store for hair dye just to cover something unnoticeable?

* * *

"There was this guy at the Provisional Exam. He said I had Father's eyes."

"Don't refer to _him_ inclusively like that. He isn't my father."

"It's just... I thought I had gotten over it. The anger, I mean. But when I spoke with this guy after the exam, it drudged up bad memories. He said Endeavor had such hatred in his eyes, and that I was the same way. I tried to rationalize that he was just blinded by his dislike for my father, but I realized I was lying to myself. Maybe I really am like him—and that scares me."

"You know I'd thought the same thing about you, right? You can both project that icy callousness."

"That helps so much, Touya."

"That's still not my name, Todoroki. Stop calling me that. But the point is, there's a _good reason_ to hate him—there's nothing beneath his hate-filled shell. But for you, it's not all you are."

"How do you know that?"

"Seriously? If you were just a mini-Endeavor, you wouldn't be worrying about it."

A pause. "Thank you. I needed to hear that." Another pause. "It's not all you are, either."

* * *

It was just Dabi, Shigaraki, and Kurogiri for the moment.

"Why hadn't we attacked the Provisional Licensing location, again?" Shigaraki asked, scratching at his neck. "It was the only event we had information on."

Kurogiri, always the patient one, answered, "I believe it was because we haven't yet recovered from the loss of the Nomu factory, as well as there having been over a thousand hero students present."

Shigaraki sighed. "Yeah, fine. At least Toga brought back some blood." Shigaraki looked Dabi's way. "How is it going with the Todoroki kid?"

"Well, yesterday I told him it was good to hate his father, and he thanked me for it. So..." He shrugged. "I guess it's going well."

* * *

"I'm going to visit Mom again tomorrow."

Dabi raised an eyebrow, despite knowing the kid wouldn't see it. "O... kay?"

"I mean, if you want to meet again in person.—Or if you want to visit her, too. Or whatever. I just thought I would let you know I would be in the area again."

Oh. Was he talking about that alley? Did the kid's mom live nearby?

Did _Endeavor_ live nearby? For some reason, he couldn't picture the kid's mom and Endeavor living together.

Dabi couldn't even remember where that street was, now. He recalled he'd been on his way to pick something up that day, but he couldn't remember what. Something minor.

"Touya? Are you there?"

"That's not my name," he said immediately, jolted from his thoughts. He paused for a moment. "Maybe we can meet some other time. I'll think about it."

"Okay."

"Have a nice visit."

"I'll tell you about it when I get back." The smile was evident in the kid's voice.

* * *

"She's doing very well. I'm hoping it will be possible to get her out of there soon."

The kid continued on, "You know, I was nervous the first time I had gone to visit. For the longest time, I thought my face would only upset her and remind her of _him_. But instead, she was really happy to see me again. Now I'm visiting her as often as I can. When school starts getting too busy, I'll write to her.

"While I was with her today, I really wanted to tell her about talking with you like this, but I knew it wouldn't be a good idea. I mostly told her about UA, and the Provisional Exam. When I showed her my provisional license, she was so happy she cried and hugged me, saying how proud she was. She's the main reason I want to be a hero; did you know that? When I was little, I remember her always telling me not to let Father ruin my dreams, and not to be afraid to use my quirk. Even though I knew my fire scared her."

Dabi just listened to the kid ramble on. His mom sounded nice.

It had been a long time since Dabi had seen his own mother. He barely even remembered her. The most prominent memory he had was the moment of her death: the mixture of fear and determination in her eyes while surrounded by Dabi's flames.

He remembered her big, glowing blue eyes. And brown hair. She was kind and brave. If he tried hard enough, he could remember her smile.

He imagined Rei Todoroki to be like her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gasp! Dabi has— _had_ , a mom! The far-off scene I'd mentioned last author's note is a flashback I'd imagined for him, and this little bit hints at that flashback. I'd thought up a little backstory for him and gave his mom glowing blue sclera and his dad black hair and a heat quirk, but I'm not planning on going into detail in-story for either parent (I'll probably say more about them in a future author's note). Dabi's definitely not Touya in this fic, though. :P
> 
> Since Dabi's not Touya in this fic, I've been Toying with (sorry) what name to give him. It's super frustrating. I don't know much about Japanese, but... I'm considering naming him Akihirou. From what I could find online, Dabi means something like "Saving through suffering" (he wants to fix the world by burning it to the ground), and dabi can be said when referring to cremation. The Bi in Dabi is the part that means 'save', and can also be pronounced like Hee/hi. So, the idea is to name him Aki-hi-rou, with a meaning of something like, "A brightly glowing, saving son", and using the same bi/hi used in Dabi. Since Akihiro's a real name but it usually means something completely different, it fits in with the world of My Hero Academia. The first part, bright, would refer to his quirk. I'd really wanted a name that meant "hero", to give Dabi a reason to not want to use his real name (because it can't be "because people would recognize it/because I'd faked my death"—neither one's true in this fic), but it was too hard to find a name that clearly meant 'hero'. However, if 'save' could be considered a synonym for 'hero', then it kind of works. And Hiro sounds like hero. But even without that, having a name that means "a son who saves" would be like a slap in the face with the tragic flashback I'd thought up, and would give him a good reason to hate the name.
> 
> I added the tiny scene with Dabi looking in the mirror just because I didn't want anyone to think he had red hair now. ...And because I'd briefly considered Shouto catching him buying black hair dye and being like, "Yep. Definitely Touya." But no, Dabi's not going to worry about having a little dark brown mixed with black. I would've stuck the mini-scene in at some later point, to give time to wonder, but it didn't really fit elsewhere. Also, Toga's just assuming that all of Endeavor's kids would have red or orange hair. Endeavor's hair color is so striking, and half of Shouto's hair is red, so.
> 
> This chapter has a little bit about how the timeline has gone differently. (Yeah... I'd wanted to avoid timeline stuff, and then I end up with a totally new timeline to stick to.) Because of the Bakugo kidnapping stuff not happening the same way, the Provisional Exam hadn't been changed so drastically from previous years. That means that a lot more students got their provisional licenses, and also means that Shouto and Inasa hadn't had the opportunity to clash during the exam. (Another big change in the timeline is how the League of Villains hadn't broken up the way they originally had, because there was no need for them to. That'll probably make the members feel closer to each other. Of course, the first result of the timeline change was in the very first scene of the fic when Shigaraki's biggest concern was figuring out why Bakugo's recruitment hadn't worked out.)
> 
> This will probably be the funniest chapter. The next one's ending up more serious, with long scenes. And there's a new pov character next chapter. ...He's ruining the comedy. :/ Also, next chapter's being a pain to write. I'd hoped to keep up a buffer for this fic, but it's not happening.


	3. Perception Shifts and New Tricks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dabi still denies being a Todoroki, and Shouto thinks about his path to becoming a better hero.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...I lied about this chapter. The original third chapter was feeling too difficult, so I thought I might need to show more of what happens between last chapter and it. So I threw in an in-between chapter. I suppose you could consider it a filler chapter, though it does move the timeline forward.  
> (Also... Should I delete the "Dabi is" tags if they're not exactly true?)

Dabi didn't know exactly when it'd happened, but, somewhere within the last few days, something had changed.

Dabi had a feeling, a vague knowingness, that the kid wouldn't switch sides. He knew it would be pointless to keep trying to talk him into it, pointless to ever kidnap him. But he never told Shigaraki. Dabi remained the good little villain and kept talking to the kid as he was told.

Shigaraki was being patient—strange as it was for him. Shigaraki thought it took time to warm up to the idea of villainy. Dabi thought the mystery-boss had been whispering reassurances in Shigaraki's ear.

Perhaps the mystery-boss _knew_ about such things. And Dabi wondered...

However, Dabi didn't think it would apply to Shouto. No matter how much time Dabi spent talking to the kid, his kidnapping would turn out the same as Bakugo's. Except whenever Dabi imagined it, rather than cursing and threats, there would be silence and disappointed blue and gray eyes.

Somewhere within the last few days, Dabi's perception of the kid had changed. The cold little Todoroki brat was no longer a Todoroki. No longer _his_ son. Not Enji Todoroki Jr.

Shouto cared about _people_ , not about hero rankings and doing only what was strictly necessary. The kid was kind, hopeful, and would talk to anyone who took the time to listen.

* * *

"I tried focusing it like you said, but it still goes wide. I think my fire's simply designed for large-scale attacks."

"You're still thinking of it wrong," Dabi said. Keeping the phone to his ear, he made a twirling motion with his free hand, trying to think of the right words. "It's like... throwing an American football. You ever done that? You have to give it a spin to concentrate the force."

The sound of the door opening made Dabi forget what he was going to say next.

" _Oooh_ , are you talking to your brother?"

Dabi turned to give a frigid look. "Get out, Toga." He sent a small stream of flame toward the grinning girl, making her yelp and quickly close the door.

It was strange. Dabi had been an only child, and had been on his own for years. He didn't consider himself a social person at all. However, the new dynamic he'd found himself in was familiar.

He often forgot that he was no stranger to being around kids—he didn't really _like_ to remember that time. He'd been the oldest, so it had been his unofficial duty to help the younger ones when the adults just didn't care.

For some reason, when he'd let that bit of his past slip during a previous conversation, the kid had seemed _knowing_ somehow, like it was some sort of confirmation.

"So... I should _spin_ my fire?" Shouto asked, sounding uncertain.

Oh right, _that's_ what they were talking about. The kid had apparently never thought of using his flames in such a way. Not that _Endeavor_ would've taught him a technique like that. "Yeah, give it a try. Though it might take some practice to get it right. The motion helps concentrate the flame, so it will be slimmer and hotter. It's good for precision and delicate work. You can also do the _opposite_ and fan your flames for extra flash and intimidation," he said, finishing with a smirk. Dabi knew how dangerous he could look when he went for flash instead of concentrated power. And when it came to working in the League, it was all about the show. His quirk was perfect for that type of thing. It was the way fire quirks were: the more fire that was _seen_ , the more dangerous it looked, regardless of the amount of power put into it.

* * *

It was decided that Shouto and the other first years could choose to do work-studies, though it had been a close thing.

Shouto furrowed his brow as he thought about the choice, his feet tucked under him as he stared unseeingly at the top of his low table.

Should he do a work-study? There was a possibility it could hurt his grades. However, work-studies gave real experience in the field. In a way, _not_ having one would set him back.

He wanted one, he decided.

There were things about being a hero that couldn't be learned through schoolwork, and Togata's demonstration had highlighted that fact. He wanted to learn all he could. He wanted to be the best he could be, to reach for the top along with Midoriya and Bakugo. To learn to be a true hero, along with Iida.

However...

When he thought about the work-study, he still felt uncertain, somehow. Maybe he was nervous? He wasn't sure. He couldn't seem to grasp his thoughts.

Maybe talking to Dabi would help. Shouto always seemed to feel better after talking to him.

He picked up his phone and selected Dabi's number.

It rung twice, and then, "Kid?"

He thought he could hear a door shutting on Dabi's end.

"Hello, Touya."

There was a sigh. "Still not Touya. But what's on your mind?"

Shouto let a small smile form. Dabi always seemed to know when there was something he needed to talk through. "I'm allowed to have a hero work-study," he began. Had that been confidential information? No, Shouto was pretty sure it was public knowledge—or soon would be. And it wasn't like he was going to give a list of his classmates' choices to the League of Villains. "I know I want to do one, but..."

Shouto couldn't figure out how to finish the sentence, causing a few seconds of silence.

"Well, you said you've had an internship, right? Isn't it pretty much the same thing?"

"Not exactly," Shouto said, feeling more comfortable now that he could talk about something explainable. "A work study is more similar to a part-time job, while the internships were about observing heroes as _they_ worked."

"Are you worried you'll mess up during a work-study?"

Shouto thought about it. "No. We've had good training, and have already had some real-life experience." He decided not to mention who that experience had been against.

" _Right_..." Even without it being stated, Dabi apparently thought of the League of Villains. "Then, are you having trouble _finding_ a work-study?"

Shouto didn't reply for a second. The feeling of uncertainty seemed to gently poke at him, but he wasn't sure why. "No... We're supposed to use the connections gained from the Sports Festival and our internships to find a work-study. It would make sense to join the Endeavor Agency to continue learning more about controlling my fire and being a top hero."

" _No_."

Shouto blinked.

"You are _not_ trailing around _Endeavor_ ," Dabi ordered. "Are you saying you'd chosen _him_ for your internship? _Why_? You do _not_ want to be anything like him—choose someone else."

Dabi sounded upset, and Shouto felt at a loss, completely confused. There was only one real option, after all, so shouldn't Dabi understand that? "He's the only one who can teach me to use my fire," Shouto said hesitantly, "as well as how to handle being in the top ten."

Dabi let out a few curses. "Forget the top ten! Find someone else! _Anyone_ else!"

Shouto didn't say anything.

There was a sigh, paired with a staticy raking sound that Shouto imagined was from Dabi running a hand through his hair. "Okay. Tell me why you want to be a hero."

But Dabi already knew why. Shouto wanted to be a hero because of his mother. In spite of his father.

Or... was he asking something different? Why, specifically, _did_ he want to be a hero? His father expected it of him, trained him to beat All Might, but that definitely wasn't why he wanted to be a hero. His mother encouraged him to follow his dreams, so she wanted him to be a hero because _he_ wanted to be a hero.

 _"be the kind of hero_ you _want to be when you grow up."_

So, why did he want to be a hero?

So he could fight villains?

But _Dabi_ was a villain and Shouto didn't want to fight him.

So he could reach the top? He wanted to, but was sure it wasn't for the same reasons as his father.

Shouto thought back to when he was little, when his father was away and he used to watch the heroes on TV with his mother.

An image of a huge grin came to mind. And the words, "Because I am here."

He thought of his mother in the hospital. And of the fight with Stain. And of what he had told the police chief in Hosu.

"I want to save people," Shouto said.

 _That_ was why he wanted to fight, why he wanted to get to the top, why he wanted to learn to control his fire, why he had been so enamored of heroes as a kid.

Dabi made a hum of agreement.

Wait... had Dabi already known that would be his answer?

But even stranger than that, was the thought, "I want to work with a rescue hero."

Before Shouto realized it, strangled laugher was bubbling up from his throat. He couldn't stop.

He was pretty sure someone was knocking on his door, asking if he was okay, but he didn't care.

Endeavor would _hate_ his choice of work-study.

He continued to laugh uncontrollably, tears leaking from his eyes.

It was perfect.

* * *

As class 1-A was letting out, Shouto Todoroki approached the teacher.

"Mr. Aizawa, would you teach me to throw an American football?"

Aizawa's only reaction was to ask, "Why do you want to learn this?"

He said, very gravely, "For hero training."

Aizawa's blank, tired expression did not change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've never played football, but I remember one day when a gym teacher had tried teaching how to throw a football. Something about lining your fingertips up with the stitches and spinning it with your fingers as you throw it. I couldn't really get it. But that odd little thing had stuck with me over the years. When I thought about how Dabi had spun his fire from the back of a truck in that one episode (I couldn't find a clip of Shouto doing anything similar), and had Dabi talking about it in this chapter, the football thing came to mind. (Football's supposed to be a big American thing, right? But it really isn't. Basketball is a pretty big deal, though. I've been around a lot of basketballs growing up.)
> 
> I first thought of Shouto doing a work-study with one of his teachers (and Midoriya with him), but then realized faculty members probably aren't allowed to do internships and work-studies.
> 
> A few days ago, I'd decided to re-watch the anime. Haven't gotten to the relevant episodes yet. Though I did realize there's already been a lot about Shouto wanting to save people, so this scene's not as farfetched as I was first worried about.
> 
> Also, I've just gotten a new fic idea. It's a Dabi bodyswap idea that would be more serious than this fic. ...Hopefully it won't take over my attention, though. But I'm a little excited about it. Look, look, a preview of it that I wrote today:
>
>> He moved before he thought, taking a step and reaching his arm out just as the man ran by. His fingers curled around the strap of the purse. Then there was a yank that traveled up his arm when the purse stayed firmly in the man’s hand. A few instants where the two of them struggled with the purse. Then the man suddenly let go, and swung around his other hand to slap the boy flat against his forehead, making him stumble back a step as the man got away. The sting and pressure of the man’s hand, and the sight of glowing eyes, stayed for a very long moment.
>> 
>> The boy in the now-silent clothing store blinked, then looked down at the bright yellow purse in his hand, staring for a long moment. Then looked around him, at the racks of clothes, and at the shell-shocked little family next to him. Then said, “What the fu—”
>> 
>> His hand went up to touch his throat, and he didn’t say anything else. His eyes drifted toward the front of the store, where, through the window, a hero was pinning a man to the ground.
>> 
>> Footsteps startled Dabi into swinging back around, but it was only a woman. One who didn’t look like she wanted to attack as she stopped in front of him.
>> 
>> Her words were fast and breathless. “Oh, thank you, thank you so much for getting my purse!” She reached for the bright yellow purse in Dabi’s hand, and his already-slack fingers allowed her to pull it from him. “You were so brave! You’re sure to be a hero when you grow up!”
>> 
>> Dabi was not a hero. And he was already grown up.
> 
> If I write that fic, then I think I would like to use the tags "Dabi is Todoroki Touya" and "Dabi is In Todoroki Touya". (It's a mixture of time travel and bodyswapping. The basic idea is that Touya thinks he's switched bodies with some random guy, while Dabi, who really is Touya in that fic, knows otherwise.) 


	4. Eraserhead Is Too Serious

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dabi still denies being a Todoroki, and Eraserhead wants to know what's going on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I slightly edited a few lines in the last scene of last chapter to better fit the relevant episodes, but the only real difference was adding a mention of Togata at the end of the sentence, "There were things about being a hero that couldn’t be learned through schoolwork[, and Togata’s demonstration had highlighted that fact]." I usually don't mention slight changes.

Eraserhead watched from a safe distance as two boys sat side by side and talked.

He needed to get closer this time. Hear what they were saying.

He thought back to the conversation he'd had with Nedzu a few days ago.

_"I see..." Nedzu said. "In other words, there are two potential spies in class 1-A." The principal held up a pencil in each paw, representing the two students. "Both have been in contact with members of the League of Villains. However, I feel there is more to this situation than meets the eye. For now, I suggest we simply gather more information."_

_"What makes you think there_ is _more to the situation?" Aizawa asked. He sighed. "I hate saying it, but the evidence is against them. Todoroki's had meetings with two different members of the League, and Midoriya can't keep his own secret conversations a secret."_

_"That is exactly the point, however," Nedzu said. "Izuku Midoriya would make a very poor spy when he is so open. And both of the students have started acting strangely within the past few weeks."_

_"That's more reason to suspect them, isn't it?"_

_"No, quite the opposite," Nedzu said. "If the two students were acting strangely because one or both of them are the leak, then it would have started before the training camp. Instead, the changes in behavior seem to correlate with Shouto Todoroki's two known meetings with villains, sixteen and nine days ago."_

_"So you're saying... what, that the League could be threatening them?" Aizawa asked._

_Nedzu tilted his head to one side. "I'm not sure. There are many possibilities. Blackmail is one option, explaining why neither student has come forward. However..." The principal trailed off, seeming to continue the line of thought only within his own head._

Nedzu had refused to tell him any of the other possibilities, claiming there wasn't enough evidence for any of them.

Eraserhead silently leapt between treetops to get closer to the two boys, paying special care that neither would see his movements from the corners of their eyes.

Despite how it seemed, Eraserhead hadn't gone into this with the idea of invading his students' privacy. It's not like UA was _investigating_ their students or something. While the dorms were being built, the trusted members of the staff had agreed that such an action would be going much too far.

When it came to Midoriya, just teaching class as usual was enough. The kid's too-loud whispers of Toga's name often made Aizawa's eye twitch. The two attempts at asking Midoriya after class if something was wrong had led to the student getting overly nervous and making stuttering excuses.

As for Todoroki... When _that_ particular problem child, not long after having moved into the dorms, asked about going to the hospital to see his mother, Eraserhead had only wanted a pro in the general area in case there was trouble. He hadn't kept an eye on Todoroki at all, but did notice a flash of blue in the distance and ran in that direction. However, when finding them in an alley, neither Dabi nor Todoroki were attacking. He'd actually felt rather proud of his student for handling the situation without the use of his quirk.

Rather than jump into the middle of things and possibly get his student killed, Eraserhead had scanned the area for the other villains. He hadn't found any, and figured it'd be best to leave things be and wait to see what Todoroki said Dabi had wanted.

Except Todoroki never mentioned the confrontation.

The second time Todoroki had said he was going to see his mother, it was suspicious. Especially because Todoroki had left at the exact same time and day of the week. It was like the kid _wanted_ the villains to find him.

And one had.

Eraserhead had kept a closer watch on Todoroki that time. At first he hadn't thought much about some boy waving at Todoroki and wanting to chat. Except for the odd coincidence of the boy appearing from same alley that Dabi had been in the week before.

Eraserhead had still kept out of earshot, just wanting to monitor the situation. After about a minute, the boy's appearance melted into that of the villain known as Himiko Toga. Todoroki hadn't seemed overly surprised, and Toga hadn't attacked him.

After a few more words, the two had gone their separate ways, with Todoroki having continued his walk to the hospital.

And now, presently, it was the fourth time Todoroki had gone to visit his mother since moving into the dorms—and the third meeting with a villain.

It was Dabi again. Although the villain wore a less conspicuous outfit than he had at the training camp, the black hair and scars gave him away.

The two gave off a much different vibe now than during their previous meeting. The first time, despite the two not having fought, they had obviously been prepared to if needed—their muscles tense in preparation, their movements calculated. Todoroki's meeting with Toga had been similar. This time, however, both boys appeared relaxed, at ease with one another.

Eraserhead crouched in the trees as close as he could get without alerting them of his presence, and proceeded to eavesdrop on them.

After a few minutes, he let out a silent sigh and massaged his temples.

Their conversation made absolutely no sense.

* * *

Shouto walked through the park. He tried to scan his surroundings without appearing suspicious, but wasn't sure if it was working. There weren't many people in the park at this time of day, which was good. It's what they'd planned on, actually.

Dabi had suggested they meet somewhere other than that alley, and Shouto recalled there being a park close to the hospital.

Shouto traveled deeper into the lightly wooded area, to a secluded clearing far from the entrance and mostly surrounded by trees. He sat on the single bench, hoping it would be easy enough for Dabi to find.

It was a nice day. Sunny, but cool. A breeze ruffled the leaves on the trees and threw dancing patterns across the clearing.

The sound of crunching grass signaled someone was nearby, and Shouto peaked around to see an approaching person wearing a lightweight hooded jacket.

"Hey," the man—Dabi; he would recognize that voice anywhere now—said. Dabi pulled down the hood, revealing his face.

Shouto realized he'd never seen Dabi in broad daylight before. The sun played across Dabi's hair, revealing glittering bits of orange. Shouto wondered if Dabi's hair had darkened to near-black over the years or if box dye just couldn't cover everything.

"What's the smile for, kid?" Dabi asked as he sat down next to Shouto, wearing a content expression. Though he also looked tired, his eyes half-lidded. "I know you can't be happy to see this face."

Shouto just shook his head, not dropping the smile.

However, a glance at the glinting piercings and staples covering Dabi's face had Shouto feeling empathetic. He knew better than to ask something stupid like if the scars hurt. But he wondered if there was anything a doctor could do to help mend his skin. Nothing could be done for Shouto's scar short of a skin graft, and he hadn't really cared—but Dabi's burns were much worse. Shouto could tell the scars were old, and he couldn't imagine it being a good idea to have piercings permanently holding your skin in place.

"So, how's your mom? Feel bad about cutting your visit short like this."

The visit he'd just had with his mother would probably be the last time he saw her for a while, but the same was true about seeing Dabi.

"I wanted to see you," Shouto said firmly, giving Dabi a hard stare to get the point across.

Then he told Dabi about how well Mom was, how frustrating her doctors were being about wanting to take things slowly, and about everything that had happened during the visit. Because he knew Dabi wouldn't ask, and Shouto couldn't guess at the unspoken questions.

Dabi's expressions were exactly how Shouto had imagined them over the phone when he'd recounted his last visit. As Shouto talked, Dabi occasionally nodded or hummed in reply. There was a bittersweet twitch of his lips, and a far off look in his blue eyes.

"She would be happy to see you," Shouto said.

Dabi physically jerked out of his thoughts, eyes widening. "She isn't my mom, kid." He ran a hand through his hair, appearing concerned and disconcerted. "We're not siblings."

"Touya—"

"That's not my name, Sho— Todoroki."

Shouto raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "Would you admit it if it was?"

Dabi didn't say anything for a few seconds, a frown slowly forming across his face. "Not really. No."

Shouto shot him a satisfied look.

"But that doesn't change the facts." Dabi then sighed, relaxing into the bench and letting the emotion drain from him, eyelids again drooping. "Let's talk about something else, kid."

Shouto nodded his acceptance. Watching Dabi gaze out toward the trees, Shouto again thought he looked tired. "How have you been? Anything happen lately?"

"Nah, same old," he said with a lazy wave. "Toga's being an annoying brat, and Shigaraki's sulking."

"His plans not going well?"

Dabi snorted at that. "What plans? He still can't figure out—"

Dabi's eyes rolled Shouto's way to give a glare. "Hey, no exchange of information, remember?"

Shouto smirked. "It was worth a try, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. Wannabe heroes shouldn't be so underhanded."

* * *

Eraserhead was going to purposefully forget how the villain had referred to him as 'Dadzawa' of all things when Todoroki had mentioned being taught to throw an American football—which had apparently also been Dabi's idea, for whatever reason.

He waited a few minutes after Todoroki walked out of the clearing and left Dabi reclining on the bench.

He dropped from the tree, landing in a crouch behind the bench.

Dabi jumped to his feet and spun to face him in one fluid motion, fire in his hands. Which didn't last long.

"Eraserhead," Dabi said.

"Let me guess. If I stomp you into the ground this time, you _won't_ turn into a puddle of goo."

Dabi glowered at him.

"Why were you talking to my student?"

Dabi's expression faded to apathy tinged with amusement. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Eraserhead."

"Is that right?" Eraserhead said. "Seeing as the two of you have grown quite close over the past few weeks, I find that hard to believe."

Dabi was good at restricting his reactions, but not good enough. Eraserhead could read them loud and clear.

"I would ask if you're Touya Todoroki, but I already know your answer would be 'no' regardless."

"I'm not a Todoroki," Dabi said vehemently.

So much for the kid's emotional control. If not for Erasure still being in effect, Eraserhead was sure he would literally be steaming. If that family name was such a sore spot, why was he so friendly with one of them?

Speaking of Erasure, his eyes were already starting to burn. The threat of his capture weapon would have to be enough of a deterrent. He blinked.

Eraserhead asked, "Why does Todoroki think you're his brother?"

The apathy was back. "How should I know?" He shrugged lazily. "Because we both have fire quirks?"

Eraserhead frowned. He wasn't sure whether Dabi was telling the truth or not, but there had to be more to it than that. Elemental quirks were very common, after all—he usually had two or three in class each year.

Dabi asked, "Is it normal for UA teachers to eavesdrop on their students?"

"It's warranted when said student has been seen meeting with villains multiple times."

Dabi made a gesture with his arms that seemed to say, 'fair enough'.

"What do you get out of this?" Eraserhead asked.

"Out of what?" For a moment, Dabi looked genuinely confused.

Eraserhead could feel a headache coming on. Was the villain just messing with him? He resisted the urge to rub his temples, but he could feel the annoying twinge of his lower eyelid twitching. "What do you get out of playing along as his brother? Out of being friendly with a U.A. student? Out of _any of this_." Eraserhead gave the villain a hard look and, saying each word firmly, demanded, "Is he a League spy?"

"Shouto's no spy," Dabi was quick to defend. "We don't talk about plans or sensitive information. The kid's dream is to be a hero; he wouldn't do that."

Well, that reaction was odd. Although, after the conversation he'd overheard, perhaps not as surprising as it should be. _This_ was the same guy who had threatened his students at the training camp?

"Explain."

The villain gave him an odd look. "He watched All Might videos as a kid, and his mom encouraged him to follow his dreams. He's probably the most compassionate person I've ever met; has a real heart for saving people. That's why he decided to get a work-study with a rescue hero—"

"Not that. Explain your relationship with him," Eraserhead cut in.

Wait... Todoroki wanted a work-study with a rescue hero?

With that crazy amount of offensive power?

And, though he had noticed it during classes, it was odd to hear someone else calling Shouto Todoroki compassionate.

"Kid just started calling me, greeting me as Touya. Won't leave me alone."

Well, that didn't explain much. With how comfortable the two had seemed a few minutes ago, the phone calls weren't even surprising. However, it _did_ remind him...

"And why has Himiko Toga been calling Midoriya?"

"She's been calling the Midoriya kid?" Dabi asked. Then added, "She _has_ been on her phone a lot lately, but she never mentioned what she was doing."

So, that could mean a few different things. Either Dabi was lying about all of this, Toga was on a mission that Dabi hadn't been informed of, or Toga hadn't told any of the League of Villains about her chats with Midoriya.

"Why are you being so cooperative?" Eraserhead asked, narrowing his eyes. Despite being vague and annoying with his answers, Dabi _was_ actually talking. He also hadn't tried to attack or escape.

Dabi shrugged. "The kid says you're the real deal. If the kid vouches for someone, I trust him."

* * *

"Dabi."

Dabi knew that voice. "Era—! _You_. How did you get my number?"

* * *

(Half an hour ago.)

"Todoroki, give me your brother's phone number. There's a few things I need to speak to him about."

"Okay."

* * *

(Twenty minutes ago.)

"Dabi."

"Who? Is this a wrong number? Wait... isn't Dabi the name of one of those villains that were on TV awhile ago?" A pause. "The _League of Villains_ has my number?"

"Wait, who is this?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My hair's dark brown (some people would even say black). In just the right lighting, where the sun's naturally lightened it a little, it shines a coppery color. Especially in bright sunlight (or maybe _only_ in bright sunlight). Although, it can also look dark red-orange in normal light if I'm wearing black and you look close enough. I'm thinking that Dabi's hair bleaches in a similar way, but is more streaky from the situation.
> 
> Here's part of why this particular chapter took a few weeks for me to finish:
>
>> Me: Okay, so Eraserhead's going to eavesdrop, gathering info like Nedzu says, and end up with more questions. He'll keep slowly piecing things together as the story continues. Perhaps meet Dabi behind the scenes at some point.
>> 
>> Eraserhead: I'm gonna jump from the tree and confront Dabi.
>> 
>> Me: ...Oh. Well, that kinda makes sense, I guess. And I can show how Dabi is still the same guy when he's not around Shouto.
>> 
>> Eraserhead: ...I don't know what questions to ask. That conversation I'd heard has already said a lot.
>> 
>> Me: You're supposed to be the smart one! Why would you jump out of that tree when you didn't even think about what you were going to ask?! [This part of the chapter probably took up the most time.]
>> 
>> Also Me: Okay... so, after a few questions—whenever I figure out what they will be—Dabi will notice when Eraserhead's quirk isn't functioning, Eraserhead will see Dabi shift so he'll throw out his capture weapon, and Dabi will make a wall of fire while ducking behind the bench that's still between them. The bench will keep Eraserhead from catching him, and the wall of flame will allow him to escape.
>> 
>> Dabi: I like Eraserhead. I'm just gonna keep answering his questions. I'm also going to act cute, and talk about how cute Shouto is.
>> 
>> Me: ...
>> 
>> Eraserhead: I wanna call Dabi.
>> 
>> Me: Wait, Eraserhead, you can't say "Hello, Dabi" and leave off the "Hello" like that—it'll sound like _you're_ Dabi. No one will understand that line.
>> 
>> Eraserhead: "Hello, Dabi" isn't terse enough. And there's no way I'm saying, " _Hey_ , Dabi."


	5. Work-Study Preparations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dabi still denies being a Todoroki, and someone new is here.

Izuku was on patrol with Togata for the first day of his work-study. It was a bit weird for him—he hadn't really gotten to do a normal internship, so most of this was new.

And his phone kept vibrating in his pocket.

Toga kept sending him messages at the most inappropriate of times. He was sure he could handle the girl on his own, however. Well, him and Iida. If he kept in contact, she might reveal something about the League of Villains that he could tell Detective Tsukauchi.

"Hey, I think your pants are buzzing," Togata said with a smile, pointing at Izuku's pocket. "Are you going to answer that?"

"Ah! N-no, it's fine," Izuku said, waving his hands. "It's just a nosy friend of mine. I'll catch up with her later."

Togata shrugged. "Well, if you're sure."

There was just something in Izuku that didn't want others to find out about the texts. He'd always been that way, even back in elementary and middle school when it came to Kacchan. Maybe it had something to do with how he'd always felt like he had to learn to be a hero all on his own, ever since the doctor had diagnosed him and his mom hadn't believed in him. Since that day, he'd felt like he had to solve his problems on his own.

Izuku knew that if someone like Uraraka learned about the texts, they would probably immediately tell someone—like she had when she found out about Shigaraki being in the mall. But she'd also been so _worried_. He didn't like people to worry.

Izuku looked around, turning his head left and right to glance down the nearby side streets for any sign of trouble, deciding to try getting his mind off of things by actually _doing his work-study_.

Wait... That colorful shape in the shadows.

Izuku stopped walking and peered into the mouth of the alley next to them. "All Might?!"

All Might turned his grin their way. His bulky body was crouched into a tight ball, his arms around his knees. "I am here! Hiding behind a dumpster!" he announced loudly.

"...I can see that," Izuku said.

His mentor was so weird!

Togata cheerfully asked, "So, what's the number one hero doing here?" Did he seriously not find the whole 'hiding behind a dumpster' thing odd?

All Might wiggled out from behind the dumpster and stood up. "I just wanted to see how Sir Nighteye's young apprentices were doing!" He paused dramatically to give a thumbs up. "Good job!"

"We... haven't really done anything yet," Izuku mumbled. He was afraid he was starting to blush.

"If you miss Sir this much, you should just come by for a visit," Togata suggested.

"Ah, no, it's fine," All Might started to say, waving his hands. Izuku had an odd sense of déjà vu, but couldn't figure out why.

Then he heard rushed footsteps and uneven breathing.

All three of them turned their heads as a little girl ran into the street up ahead.

All Might reached her first.

It turned out All Might would be going to see Sir Nighteye with them after all, with a scared child latched onto his chest.

* * *

The class had rescue training at the USJ today. Except for Bakugo, Kirishima, Uraraka, and Asui, who were currently at their work-studies. Midoriya and Tokoyami, though they were in class, also had work-studies.

Shouto already felt behind.

When Shouto had gotten back to the dorms after visiting with his mother and Dabi, he'd discovered that his classmates had been busy. Midoriya had used the day off to go to an interview with Sir Nighteye, All Might's previous sidekick. And the number three hero, Hawks, had specifically requested Tokoyami. Another top hero had requested Bakugo.

Thinking of that evening, he was reminded of how, after Aizawa had passed along the messages for his classmates, he'd asked Shouto for Natsuo's phone number for some reason.

Ten minutes later, Aizawa had returned to the common room saying he'd gotten a wrong number, and Shouto had decided to just let him see the contacts list on his phone rather than saying the number aloud again.

Aizawa never said why he'd needed to talk to his brother. Did it have something to do with Shouto? Usually his father or Fuyumi would be the ones to speak to regarding his grades. Or did it have something to do with Natsuo studying to become a doctor? Was he wanting to get into Hero Medicine?

Anyhow, Shouto was glad the class had rescue training today. It gave him the opportunity to really pay attention to his skills and help judge whether he was actually cut out for rescue work.

It also meant he could ask to speak with Thirteen about the topic after class.

Thirteen immediately told him, "I was against allowing first years to have work-studies."

Shouto subtly released a breath in disappointment.

"However..." She drummed the fingers of one hand against her thigh. "You are a good student, and have demonstrated an impressive increase in skill during today's lesson."

Shouto subtly held his breath, awaiting her next words.

"Come to my office and let me know what you're thinking."

After getting back to the main campus, he went to Thirteen's office. She greeted him, then sat at her desk, steepling her fingers attentively. Shouto sat in front of her and slid his list of offers onto the desk so she could read it.

"I received over four thousand offers after the Sports Festival, but most of those were from agencies that specialized in battle and similar things. There was still a good number of offers from rescue heroes, but the number was cut down again because Mr. Aizawa said first years are only allowed work-studies with heroes of proven track records."

It mostly meant that heroes needed to be well-experienced with having interns and work-studies, trusted by UA to keep their students safe during dangerous situations.

Thirteen nodded, letting Shouto know he remembered correctly.

Shouto believed most UA students avoided internships and work-studies with Underground and Rescue Heroes, despite the Hero Basic Training course spending just as much time on rescue training as it did on battle training. Even though UA made a point to be well-rounded, the school _was_ the most famous of the hero schools, and attracted students who were interested in flashy villain battles.

Most of the rescue hero offers had to be crossed off his list. They just hadn't had enough UA students in the past.

As he watched Thirteen pick up the printout, he said, "There's still twenty offers that fit the criteria, but I'm not sure which agency I should try contacting."

Thirteen nodded again as she looked through the list. She picked up a pen and crossed out a few of the names, though he couldn't read which ones.

She asked, "What personal preferences do you have for a work-study?"

"Well," Shouto began, "perhaps one within an hour or two of UA. Tokoyami's work-study is all the way in Kyushu, so I imagine he will be missing a lot of school just from the commute."

"Yes, that will most likely lead to a lot of absences. If his grades were any lower, he probably would have been advised against it. However, I would trust both him _and_ you to be able to handle such a challenge."

Shouto nodded in appreciation. He was one of the top students in his class, but he felt honored for her to believe in him. "Thank you. Though I would still prefer one closer, if possible."

"Alright. And what type of rescue work do you feel most apt at or comfortable with?"

"Maybe mountain rescue? I'm used being around a lot of ice, and can see myself helping with avalanches. However, it will be a few more months until the snowy season." He thought back to the summer training camp. "The Wild Wild Pussycats were one of the agencies who made an offer."

Thirteen held up the list for him to see. "I'm sorry, but they are on a long-term hiatus from hero work due to what happened to Ragdoll."

Their name was one of the ones that Thirteen had crossed off earlier. Shouto frowned. Ragdoll had been kidnapped during the summer camp, and was found alive but badly injured. It had been almost two months, and he'd hoped she would have recovered by now.

"How do you feel about other types of rescue?"

Shouto went over what he felt were his strengths and weaknesses based on the rescue simulations. In the Shipwreck Zone, he could keep a ship from sinking or get to a drowning victim quickly by using his ice, but posed a risk of hypothermia for the victims. In the Squall Zone, the rain melted his ice too quickly, and his fire was useless. His ice could help stabilize the ground in the Landslide Zone, but he didn't see much use for his quirk beyond that.

He had seen his quirk as something to use against an opponent for too long. He felt a bit lost at the idea of using his quirk against things that didn't _move_. But being a rescue hero still felt _right_ to him.

Thirteen nodded along as Shouto talked, agreeing with his self-assessments, and occasionally adding a few things that he hadn't realized, based on her observations during classes.

Thirteen picked up the pen again and circled something, then rotated the page and used two fingers to push it toward Shouto.

"I believe this one would be a good match for you. They're located close to UA and have a good standing. I also happen to know they are interested in having a work-study this semester."

Shouto stared at the circled name. He wouldn't have imagined doing _that_ type of rescue work.

"I feel you could learn a lot from them. That hero in particular has an elemental quirk, and can probably show you a few methods of control, as well as some creative ways to use your quirk. Of course, it's only a suggestion. Whether or not you contact them is up to you."

* * *

"Hey, Touya."

Dabi turned to glare at Shigaraki. "You know I'm not Touya. If you start calling me that, I'm leaving." And he _would_ —leave the League, that was, if his _boss_ started that.

"I just had an idea," Shigaraki continued, completely ignoring him. "You've been talking to the little Todoroki for a while now—do you think he'd be willing to meet you somewhere in person?"

"Ah, I see," Magne said. "If you can get him alone, we can warp him here."

"Nah," Dabi said, "the kid's starting a work-study tomorrow. Won't have any free time in the foreseeable future."

Shigaraki scowled, making an annoyed sound deep in his throat. "Should've thought of it sooner," he muttered.

Dabi shrugged. Not _his_ fault his boss hadn't thought of it before.

Shigaraki slowly scratched his neck. "If the UA students are doing work-studies, then that means they'll be outside the school. ...But they'll also be harder to find. And each one will be equipped with their own _pro-hero bodyguard_." The scratching became more aggressive. "We won't be able to get Todoroki while he's in Endeavor's party."

"Kid's not doing his work-study with Endeavor. Talked him out of it."

"Really?" Shigaraki's fingers stilled mid-scratch, his head turning to Dabi. "How did you manage that?"

Dabi shrugged. "Yelled at him until he changed his mind."

Shigaraki stared at Dabi for several long seconds.

"He's going to realize you're not his brother."

Somehow, Dabi didn't think _anything_ could convince the kid. Not like he hadn't been trying this whole time. "Whatever."

Mr. Compress joined the conversation, saying, "Dabi, you're completely lacking _finesse_. You need to be _kind_ to children—a successful deception depends on it."

Shigaraki waved impatiently. "Yeah, yeah, enough about your magic tricks. Dabi, which hero _is_ Todoroki going to work with?"

"Donno. Kid never gave me a name."

"Well, get him to tell you," Shigaraki said.

Dabi frowned as he studied Shigaraki's expression with half-lidded eyes. "Thought you didn't want me to yell at 'im again."

Shigaraki's face twisted strangely, like he couldn't decide how to react.

Mr. Compress shook his head with a sigh. "Completely lacking finesse," he said again.

* * *

Endeavor sat at his desk, head resting on one fist, while the other hand drummed a rhythm against the wooden top. He wore an annoyed frown as he gazed toward the floor-to-ceiling windows on the left of his office, where orange light streamed in from the setting sun.

When was his masterpiece going to show up? Or at _least_ call to set up an appointment? Endeavor _knew_ the school had approved first year work-studies a few days ago. Why was Shouto leaving him waiting?!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about not updating last week. I was _so close_ to finishing my oneshot fic, I thought I'd finish it first ...and it took all week.
> 
> This is basically episode 67, "Fighting Fate".
> 
> I had thought of making All Might's first mention in the fic more impressive somehow. I'd actually first thought of Midoriya and Shouto getting work-studies with All Might (he gets some help with hero work, gets to help guide the heroes who'll be taking over once he retires, Shouto wants to learn how to be number one, Endeavor would be upset), but then I realized the UA staff probably weren't allowed to do work-studies. After going in another direction and deciding to have Shouto go into rescue work, there were a few different options. ...When I'd pretty much made up my mind for this specific one, I suddenly remembered the backstory I was giving Dabi in this fic. It's going to be so horrible when Dabi learns what Shouto's doing. I wouldn't have done that to him if I'd thought about it _before_ I'd talked myself into going with that hero.
> 
> I changed "Hey, Dabi" to "Hey, Touya" solely because I realized Dabi hadn't denied being a Todoroki in this chapter, and I wanted to keep that chapter summary going. Also, while I'm talking about that scene, I found it amusing to have Shigaraki think Dabi might give himself away for probably the most big-brother-like thing he's done. Dabi's so honest about everything, but it always sounds _different_ somehow. He does some of it on purpose, but some of it he's truly a bit clueless about.
> 
> Also, I know exactly what'd happened during the raids now. Bakugo managed to get away before they could strap him to a chair (that's the timeline difference). The odds were kinda against him, but he figured something out. Because Bakugo could tell the police and heroes where the bar was, the League needed a new hideout, and All For One gifted them an apartment somewhere. Since Bakugo wasn't a priority, the vast majority of the police and heroes went to the warehouse location to deal with the nomus. It wasn't all that big a deal, though, since All For One had previously decided to only get involved in League matters if Shigaraki asked for his help, and Shigaraki didn't ask. (All For One says that in a few episodes, including _that_ episode, where he tells All Might that he wasn't actually there to fight. Originally, Shigaraki requested All For One's help while at the bar when things were going south. If anything had happened just a little differently, All For One wouldn't have made an appearance. And... since the Kamino incident caused so many things to happen... there's quite a few differences in the timeline now.)
> 
> Is All Might skipping class? (goes into a Midoriya rant:) If he teaches both the A and B classes, as well as each year, then he'd have a full schedule. But he can only hold his hero form for an hour and a half (and probably less than that by this time). So... does he only teach class 1-A...? However, if he takes turns with Thirteen and/or Aizawa, then he could probably teach both class 1-A _and_ 1-B, alternating between days. But then there's also the issue of him still doing some hero work, which drains him faster. (Also, I'm not really sure _when_ Midoriya does that patrol. I'd thought he had missed class Monday to do it, but when he's at school next, it doesn't sound like the next day... So, either it's Tuesday, or it's still Monday and Midoriya just did all that stuff early in the morning. ...Or had he started the work-study on Sunday... If it was Sunday, then I guess All Might had a free day.)


	6. How [Not] to Add Someone to a Phone Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dabi still denies being a Todoroki, and... is 'a good friend', 'cheerful', 'caring', and 'comforting'...? (No wonder I've been feeling worried about OOCness.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about not posting the chapter last week. Something came up. ...And then it took awhile to get back to where I'd left off. Oh, and, did anyone have an idea of what kind of work-study it is or who it's with, based on last chapter (or clues in this chapter)? I'd decided to go with someone from the series, who will be revealed within this chapter.
> 
> Also, I only just now realized (while glancing through the chapter to find something to say for the summary) that the theme of this chapter seems to be "Dabi's actually super nice". Whyyyy, me, _whyyyy_?

Fuyumi's elbow rested on the desk, her head propped up with her hand.

It was currently two in the morning, but she couldn't talk herself into going to bed.

Bored, and a bit sleep deprived, she absently scanned the newest points on Shouto's list, her finger gliding across her laptop's touchpad.

_"D. likes hearing about Mom. Seems to miss her."_

Fuyumi furrowed her brow, mumbling, "How much is Shouto telling this guy?"

She was beginning to worry that her brother was developing an unhealthy obsession. Did he miss Touya that much? Or perhaps he just wanted to fix their broken family dynamic, same as herself?

Was it strange to feel nostalgic for a childhood she hadn't truly had?

Scrolling back to the top of the list with a flick of her finger, she realized the two-column document was getting longer than she'd thought possible. There were several pages to it, now. ...Perhaps there was more to Shouto's theory than she realized.

She skimmed back over a few of the points with a new frame of mind.

_"D. has blue eyes."_

_"D. has hot (blue) fire quirk. Problems withstanding said quirk. Possibly-related bad burns."_

_"D. seems to have personal grudge against Endeavor."_

_"D. seems to know about Father."_

_"D. knows how Half-Cold Half-Hot works."_

_"Ran into D. close to Mom's hospital."_

_"D.'s colleague referred to me as 'her friend's brother'."_

_"D. denies being Touya, but won't give another name."_

_"D. always takes my calls."_

_"D. let slip that he was the oldest child in a family with 'uncaring' adults."_

_"D. gave a few suggestions for using my fire."_

_"D. gives good pep talks. Reassured me I wasn't my father."_

_"D. likes hearing about Mom. Seems to miss her."_

_"D. accidentally revealed Endeavor ruined his childhood. Refused to say more."_

_"D.'s hair looks red in sunlight. Possibly tried dying it black."_

_"D. agrees with Mom about following my dreams."_

_"D. was irrationally concerned about me working with Endeavor."_

This person really was starting to sound like family. Or at least a good friend.

Fuyumi absently tapped her fingers against the front of her laptop.

She still knew Shouto's theory made no sense. All of them knew Touya had died. Faking a death seemed so outlandish. Shouto also seemed to be forcing pieces together in his list, whether they truly fit or not. _Blue_ fire? _Possibly_ dyed hair? And 'uncaring' could mean so many things, not only Dad's harsh training or disregard and Mom's slow withdrawal.

The list was missing any real information about this person Shouto only referred to with the letter D. Hadn't Shouto asked him about his family? His past? Anything? It was like her brother was forgetting this 'D' was a real person who could clear up any confusion with just a few words. They were obviously having conversations, but it didn't appear that 'D' was very talkative about himself.

'D' _had_ said he wasn't Touya, which _should_ be enough… except for not telling who he _was_. It was as though he was purposefully hiding his identity, which made no sense. What was 'D' short for, anyhow? Did Shouto even know? Did her brother realize how creepy it was to be talking to someone who wouldn't even reveal his name?

Fuyumi took off her glasses and rubbed her hands over her face, pausing to dig the heels of her palms into her eyes and her fingers into her hair. She released a frustrated sigh. If Shouto was right about this guy's age—which, Shouto should've been able to _ask_ him—then he was twenty-four. A twenty-four-year-old stranger who refused to give his real name talking to a fifteen-year-old boy. That did _not_ sound good. A Twenty-four-year-old older brother talking to his younger brother, on the other hand, was perfectly safe and ordinary.

Fuyumi had no idea which one this person was.

* * *

"Touya?" Shouto asked, mildly surprised. "This is the first time you've called me."

It was true they talked often, but Shouto had always been the one to initiate a conversation.

"Yeah, hi Shouto," Dabi said unusually cheerfully. "I was just thinking about you and thought I would call and see how you're doing."

Then a voice in the background said, "Okay, that's enough—hurry up and ask him."

Shouto blinked. "Is someone else there?"

"I'm glad you've asked!" Dabi said. His voice was pitched like he was talking to a toddler. "I'm doing fine. But I'm curious about _you_. I have a _really important_ question to ask you."

The person in the background said, "Don't _word it_ that way, he'll be suspicious."

" _So_ ," Dabi said, "what hero are you doing your work-study with?"

"...Is this a question I shouldn't answer?"

"Yep—just wanted to know."

"Is that Shigaraki with you?"

"Uh- _huh_. Are you _sure_ you won't tell me?"

"I'll call you back tonight, okay?"

"Pretty please?"

He heard Shigaraki ask, "He still won't tell you? Okay, _fine_. At least try to entice him to our side."

Shouto should have hung up, but he wondered what Shigaraki was up to.

"You ever think of visiting the League?" Dabi asked. "We have cookies."

"Seriously, Dabi?" Shigaraki said.

How were cookies related to the League of Villains? Was it some kind of code word? Maybe it had something to do with the cookies used on websites to—

There was a loud rattling noise that must've been made next to the phone on purpose. It was followed by a loud staticy munching sound.

...Oh.

"Do you really have cookies?" Shouto asked. Dabi was bribing him with cookies?

"Yeah. Toga stole them from a nearby bakery. You can have some. Just avoid the ones with red drizzle—I don't think they were made that way." Dabi paused for a moment. "On second thought, I don't think we'll be getting any more cookies after this batch."

"Dabi, how is that— Why are you so bad at this? Just repeat after me." Shigaraki's voice turned spirited, but also carried a creepy edge. "In the League, you don't need to follow the _oppressive rules_ of the heroes."

Dabi repeated in a bored monotone, "In the League, you don't need to follow the oppressive rules of heroes."

"No one forces you to fit a mold or tells you what you should do. We're free from false heroes like Endeavor."

"No one forces you into a mold or tells you what you should do, we're free from false heroes like Endeavor." Dabi's voice went even flatter on Endeavor's name.

Was Shigaraki trying to cater to Shouto's dislike of his father?

"Free to make our _own_ choices. Free to use our quirks however _we_ want to use them."

"Free to make our own choices," Dabi repeated lifelessly, "free to use our quirks how we want to use them."

It suddenly just got to him. Those words; everything.

He started laughing.

There was a staticy noise and Dabi's voice was muffled as he said, his smirk obvious, "I think he's starting to find this appealing."

Shigaraki said, " _See_ , I told you a calmer approach would work."

Shouto laughed for a few more seconds before managing to calm down, the chuckles dying out, though a smile lingered longer.

He turned thoughtful. "This is the second time you've made me laugh."

* * *

"As I've mentioned during your interview, I am, above all, a Rescue Hero, but also help as needed in other ways, such as battle. I believe a hero needs to be well-rounded, as I'm sure you understand," he said.

He picked up a small stack of paperwork, and Shouto was transfixed by how his quirk didn't ruin the paper. "Seeing as I'm located so close to UA, your hours will be a little different than most work-study students. Especially since you are concerned about keeping up your grades. As we've discussed earlier, you will come by after school for a few hours Tuesday through Thursday, and in the mornings during your day off." He held up one finger as he continued, and Shouto focused more on the excellent control he had over his quirk than on his words. " _Plus_ any emergency calls. If you get a call saying I need you, your teachers will excuse you."

Shouto nodded. The pro handed him the paperwork and he skimmed through it. Everything was as they had agreed. "Thank you for hiring me," Shouto said, deeply grateful.

"Not a problem," he said. "I've been wanting a little extra help around here, and Thirteen highly recommended you. I should be thanking you for choosing me for your work-study. With your standing in the Sports Festival and being the son of the number two hero—"

Shouto tensed. He had always questioned how much he was recognized for his own merits versus recognized for who his father was. It was hard to know to what extent anyone saw Shouto for himself and his own achievements.

"Did I say something wrong?"

It wasn't fair to the pro hero. He'd only been making an innocent comment. He was willing to hire an inexperienced student despite the risks involved.

"No. Apologies."

"No need to be so proper, Shouto," he said and put a reassuring hand on Shouto's shoulder. The hand felt cool, and vaguely alive. Also surprisingly solid. "Now, let's go on patrol and I'll tell you more about what you'll be doing on the job."

When they were on the street, the pro continued, "This city sees a lot of action, which is why there are so many heroes in the area. I'll touch on all the common situations, but I'll begin with my specialty.

"I'm sure you already know about patrols from your internship, but rather than focusing on suspicious activity on the street like most battle heroes, we will also keep an eye on what's happening _above_ ground level." He waved a hand toward the rooftops. "Let me know if you see any sign of smoke. Although smoke may signal a controlled fire, it's best not to assume. And when investigating, always be friendly and casual. Remember, people like meeting heroes as long as they don't feel under suspicion."

Shouto nodded with a frown. Be friendly...

"I feel lucky to have you. Your quirk is perfect for fighting fires, Shouto."

Why had Shouto decided to use his first name as his alias, again? It was strange to hear that level of familiarity outside of family.

Shouto said, "But you have a water quirk—isn't that better than ice?"

"Ah, but you have _fire_ as well."

What?

"It's a very versatile quirk. Fire on one side..." The pro raised one arm and manipulated the water to look like living, liquid flames. "...and ice on the other." He raised his other arm to show motionless water that greatly resembled clear ice.

"What use is my fire? Wouldn't it only add to the existing flames?"

"Using controlled fire is one method of keeping flames from spreading. If you set clear boundaries by eliminating any flammable material, the flames are unlikely to leave the area. A fire quirk can also come in handy in other ways."

* * *

"Hello, Touya," Shouto said. He had just gotten back from his work-study.

"I'm not Touya."

Dabi hadn't said that name during the call this morning. Possibly because he hadn't wanted anyone overhearing it.

"I take it Shigaraki isn't with you this time."

"Nah, I think he's satisfied with his little 'how to talk to kids' tutoring session."

"...But I'm Toga's age," Shouto said. "Is he trying to use you to get me to join the League of Villains?"

There was a sigh. "I guess he's given away enough to make our 'no information' rule moot. The boss had set his eyes on you after failing at recruiting Bakugo. Thinks you'd be willing to join the League just 'cause you seem to have something against your father—Shigaraki's an idiot. For some reason, even knowing that about you, he assumed you'd do a work-study with Endeavor."

"He _was_ the obvious choice, though, being both the number two hero and my father. I hadn't realized I had other options until you said something."

"Yeah, well, I ended up revealing you weren't going to work with Endeavor, and he started badgering me about what pro you were going to be with. He's trying to find a time he can kidnap you."

That was more extreme than Shouto had realized. Though, when he thought about it, it might be a little tame for the League of Villains. The USJ incident, the Hosu incident, and the attack on the training camp were all pretty eye-catching.

"Does this mean I shouldn't tell you about my work-study?" That would be pretty disappointing.

"You can avoid saying the pro's name if you want. But I'm not gonna tell Shigaraki anything important. He can go find his own information; he doesn't own me."

"He's your boss."

"So? The League is just a means to an end."

Shouto wondered what that 'end' was supposed to be. So far, the League of Villains had only caused chaos. Weren't they against all heroes? Why did they even want Shouto on their side? What possibility did Dabi see in them?

"Kid?"

Shouto blinked. "I'm here."

"You at least have a good first day...?"

Oh, right. He had wanted to tell Dabi about his first day. And about the rescue hero who had agreed to hire him, in particular. "Yeah. It was nice," Shouto began, allowing a small smile as he thought back on the past few hours. "We went on patrol and he told me what I could expect over the next few months. I also got to help him capture a shoplifter who had an unusual scar on his cheek."

" _Huh_..." Dabi said noncommittally.

"He _is_ mainly a Rescue Hero, but he helps in other ways as well," Shouto explained. "He also has very good control of his quirk. I didn't think it was possible to control an element to that degree."

"You sound excited—you becoming a fan boy?" Dabi lightly teased.

Shouto frowned as he imagined Midoriya's excited ramblings. "I'm not that bad," he disagreed. "I'm just happy Thirteen recommended him. I think I'll learn more from him than I have from my father."

Dabi snorted. "That much is obvious."

Dabi wasn't quite being fair. Endeavor wouldn't have made it to the number two spot without being very good at his job—especially because of his low popularity. However, Shouto did disagree with his training methods.

"I've never considered Half-Cold Half-Hot as being a good quirk for fighting fires. I was surprised when Thirteen recommended Backdraft for a work-study."

He could barely hear Dabi saying, "You're doing _Fire Rescue_?"

There was a loud banging noise on Dabi's end, and Shouto winced as he moved the phone from his ear for a moment. "Touya?" There was no answer. "Touya? Did something happen?"

"It's nothing. I just dropped the phone."

"Are you sure?" Shouto asked. He thought Dabi sounded a little breathless.

"Just don't be like Endeavor."

What did that mean? "I won't."

"Make sure you save everyone. _Listen_ to people."

Oh... Was Dabi concerned for fire victims? He cared more for people than he let on. Shouto smiled. "Of course," he promised. He would do his best, like All Might.

There was an odd beep over the phone.

"Alright," Dabi said, sounding relieved.

There was another beep.

"I think someone's trying to call me," Shouto said, finally realizing what the beeping meant. "Hang on for a minute."

He switched to the other call. "Hello?"

"Shouto? I have a few questions regarding this guy you've been talking to."

"Hang on, Fuyumi, I'll add you to the conversation."

"Conversation?" she asked. "Wait Shouto, what—?"

Shouto pulled back his phone to look at the screen. There should be an option somewhere. He knew it was possible, because his classmates had added him to their conversations before. Finding a 'merge' icon, he pressed it and put the phone back to his ear.

"Touya? Are you still there? I added Fuyumi to the call."

"Shouto, why did you add your sister to the call?"

"Shouto, why did you add me to this call?!"

Huh, it was like a strange echo.

"You both called me."

Dabi and Fuyumi started talking over each other in their protests.

Maybe Shouto should suggest the three of them take turns or something.

"I don't even know who this guy _is_ ," he heard Fuyumi's alarmed voice saying over Dabi.

"He's Touya."

"I'm _not_ Touya."

"Then who are you?"

"I told you, he's Touya."

"Shouto, stop, don't call me Touya."

"Then what _do_ you want be called?"

" _Dabi_."

The line went silent.

"Dabi, the _villain_ Dabi?!" Fuyumi's voice was high and panicky.

Dabi cursed.

"Fuyumi, it's not how it sounds," Shouto tried.

"'Not how it sounds'?!" Fuyumi was hysterical. "My little brother's been talking to a villain for the past month, and I've been worrying about _who_ this person is who says he's not Touya but won't even give any other name and is almost ten years older than you and could do who knows what, and now I find out he's a _villain_?!"

"...I'm sorry. I hadn't realized how the situation would look. You're right to be concerned and suspicious—especially now. We shouldn't have hidden this from you." His voice was calm and soothing, validating her views.

Fuyumi automatically opened her mouth to take part of the blame, before realizing she was about to reassure a villain.

She blinked—only then realizing she had unshed tears in the corners of her eyes.

Dabi knew how to comfort people.

_The oldest in a family of uncaring adults._

It made no sense to her. Villains weren't supposed to sound _human_. They were supposed to be the bad guys that needed to be stopped.

The friendly-sounding D. from Shouto's list was metaphorically laid atop the intimidating villain from the news, like the transparencies she used in teaching.

 _Dabi_ always took the time to talk to Shouto. _Dabi_ gave reassurances, listened to Shouto talk about Mom, told Shouto to follow his dreams.

It was a breathless realization.

...Then she frowned in annoyance. He _still_ hadn't said what his real name was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you like who I'd picked for Shouto's work-study? (...I'd picked firefighting for him, and then I started hearing about wildfires on the news. But America's weather is crazy right now. There's fire on one side, water on the other side, and pandemic all over.)
> 
> I've had that beginning Fuyumi scene written for a long time, but just couldn't figure out which chapter it would fit in with. Some of the items on the list were supposed to be from behind-the-scenes scenes (because those two are talking more than is shown), but then I ended up writing scenarios that would fit those points.
> 
> I'm thinking about the possibility of giving this fic's Dabi a family name of Honomoto, which should mean something like 'blazing fire' plus 'origin'. I'm really messing with him when it comes to names (he needs some reason to be so stubborn about not revealing his name, right?). The 'Hono' part is the same character used as the first syllable of Enji (it can be pronounced as either 'en' or 'honoo'). So I find it amusingly ironic to think that such a family name might could mean "came from Enji". Like, "Are you my brother?" "No." "What's your name?" "Enji's son." But I did want a name that would reference his quirk or something, since apparently My Hero Academia characters tend to have names like that, and it would be meaningful besides those two things, too (like, I think it might could mean "origin of intense emotion/passion"). I had also considered the (possibly real) family name Akisada, which is supposed to mean 'autumn' plus 'determine/decide'. Or Atatakawa, which would mean 'warm' plus 'river' (there's supposed to be a slight play on words with that combination, but it's kinda meaningless, because 'atata' and 'atataka' mean the same thing, I think? So adding 'kawa' to spell a word was a bit pointless).


	7. Missing Cookies and Firebending

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dabi still denies being a Todoroki, and three people would prefer not to be noticed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've edited the ending of last chapter. Sorry, I know you guys liked Fuyumi changing her mind like that, but I've had other plans for her and hadn't proof-read that part close enough. I hope you still like the edited version, though (which, I hope is clearer now). Whether or not Fuyumi will accept Dabi as Touya will be big. ...I think? I haven't actually written it yet. But it's supposed to be a big deal. (I've had it semi-planned for a really long time. And keep in mind that I'd originally thought this fic was going to be less than five chapters long, but I've been putting off Fuyumi's stuff for a while.)
> 
> Thanks for all the comments last chapter. I was feeling pretty down about it, and your comments helped me feel better. :)

Unlike yesterday, when several of Shouto's classmates had talked about Kirishima, Asui, and Uraraka's names being in the news, the few minutes before homeroom this morning were quiet.

Midoriya _wasn’t_ talking excitedly about the quirk combos possible within the newly formed hero teams. Bakugo wasn’t complaining about being just as good as those three, or how he ‘knew he should’ve went with a different agency’.

No, today there was only the normal murmur of conversation. Along with Bakugo intimidating some reluctant classmates into looking at an article on his phone.

The capture of the shoplifter that Shoto had helped with last night hadn't made it into the news.

Shouto didn't really mind, however. He'd had enough hero-related attention to last a lifetime. He might prefer being in the background.

* * *

Spinner was spending the evening playing a videogame at the hideout.

Or at least, he _had_ been playing a game, and ignoring the argument starting to take place, until he lost his last life and got a game over.

He looked up, and tensed on seeing Toga's malicious grin and Dabi's glare—though thankfully neither one were pointed in his direction. Toga was sitting on the other end of the couch, her legs crossed beneath her on the cushions and her phone in her lap. Dabi was standing, and doing that scary 'I'm pretending to be calm but am actually one second from torching you' thing.

Spinner's eyes bounced between the two of them as they traded words like one of those little birdie things in a badminton match. Maybe if he was still enough, he could blend in with the couch and neither would notice he was there.

Dabi had actually been a little nicer to all of them lately; even Toga, despite her teasing him. But today her words seemed more cutting than usual.

He thought it was likely because of the boss claiming Dabi'd been the one to eat all the cookies yesterday.

Spinner's eyes darted to Toga.

"What are you even mad about?"—the sharpness of her voice and eyes belied the innocent wording—"All I _did_ was greet you when you came in."

Spinner looked to Dabi.

Dabi's eyes narrowed. "You know what you're doing. You better stop using that name."

Spinner looked back at Toga.

Toga put a finger to her chin. "What name? Oh, you mean ' _Touya_ '? But I call _all_ my friends by their first names."—Dabi interrupted that it wasn't his name—"And you _are_ a friend, aren't you? Unless you'd rather I call you _Todoroki_."

Spinner's eyes darted back to Dabi.

"You little crazy," Dabi hissed. "You know this is part of the boss's plan. Unlike what _you're_ doing." He made a sharp gesture toward the phone in her lap.

Toga jerked her phone away to protect it. "I'm talking to my boyfriend! It's completely different!"

Spinner looked to Dabi.

"Yeah, right. I know exactly who—" Dabi's phone started to ring. His expression changed just before he turned away from Toga and walked down the hallway to one of the back rooms.

Just as Dabi opened the door, Toga called out, "Is that _little Shouto_?"

Spinner glanced at Toga to see her grinning again, then looked back to Dabi.

Dabi sent a frigid glare over his shoulder before entering the room and shutting the door.

Spinner stared at the closed door for a few seconds.

He wondered aloud, "What if he really _is_ a Todoroki?"

Toga started cackling.

Spinner sunk deeper into the back of the couch, wishing he hadn't said anything. So much for the possibility of being the _camouflaging_ type of gecko.

* * *

"Shouto?" Dabi said with a sigh as he sat down and leaned his head back against the wall. Despite this meaning more ammunition for Toga, he was glad for the reprieve.

He didn't know what was going on with her. She'd been snappy with him all day long and it was getting on his nerves.

The line was silent for a moment before the kid said, instead of his usual greeting, "Is everything okay?"

What kind of question was that? "Yeah," Dabi said. Then added, in case Shouto really _had_ picked up on his mood, "Besides Toga being extra irritating today."

"Oh. ...Did you eat the cookies with the red drizzle?"

Dabi was confused for a long moment, before remembering yesterday's conversation. He snorted. "Of course not. I taste enough of my _own_ blood as it is. Besides, she can't be upset with me for just eating two cookies. I don't know who ended up with the blood-spattered ones, but I'm pretty sure each member of the League had at least a handful of cookies yesterday. Though I'm pretty sure Shigaraki ate the most."

"He does have the most hands," Shouto commented.

Dabi smirked. "Yeah."

He shifted into a more comfortable position, then asked, "So, were you at your work-study again today?"

"Yes. It's actually what I wanted to tell you about."

Dabi figured.

"It was a slow evening, so Backdraft worked with me on my quirk."

"Oh?" Dabi said. It might've not been very noticeable to someone else, but Dabi could hear the excitement in Shouto's voice.

"Remember when you told me to try concentrating my flames by throwing them like an American football?"

"Yes..."

"Backdraft suggested trying to manipulate my flames _without_ throwing them."

"Without...?" Dabi mumbled, furrowing his eyebrows. What good would that...? His eyes widened as he imagined what that would look like. "Tell me," he ordered, not being able to keep the excitement from his own voice now.

He'd seen Backdraft on the news before, seen how he could shape his element so easily. The rescue specialist could do anything from erecting a full-on barrier, to snaking an arm around several obstacles to pluck some idiot out of danger. Dabi had thought it was just a special property of water—the fluidness and maneuverability, the ability to solidify it. But Shouto was implying _fire_ could be molded that way as well.

Dabi had always thought of fire as being too wild to truly control. Like _any_ fire, his flames seemed to have a will of their own. He'd never thought beyond making sure they didn't spread too far. Little tricks to help direct the fire's path. His tricks were nothing like the ability to shape fire the way Backdraft could shape water.

"Well... I've barely been able to do anything yet; I don't know how much control is possible. But Backdraft seemed to think there was potential when I told him about your technique. So far, I've been working on trying to spin my fire while keeping it in the palm of my hand."

"Has it worked?" Dabi asked.

"I think so... to an extent," Shouto said. "It's slow progress—for both my sides. The two elements take completely different methods, and neither one matches what Backdraft said about controlling water. The fire takes a lot of concentration to move the way I want it to."

"I want to try it."

Dabi realized he'd probably cut Shouto off, but he _really_ wanted to experiment with his fire now. The more he heard about it, the more he itched to _do_ something.

"Does practicing with your quirk hurt you?" Shouto asked, sounding concerned.

"Not as long as I can keep it to my hands, I inherited my father's heat-resistance there," he said distractedly. "I'm going to work on it; talk to you later." Dabi hung up before Shouto could respond.

Toga barely got two words out as Dabi walked through the front room and out the door.

He strode impatiently through the dim streets, without any real destination in mind.

Maybe Dabi would be good at it—he knew his mom had had pretty good control over _her_ quirk. Now that he thought about it, her quirk might've involved a little telekinesis, since she could control her gel-like liquid without direct touch. Unlike his dad, who'd only been able to heat whatever his hand was in contact with.

Lucky him, inheriting a mixed quirk that wouldn't stay where it was supposed to.

Deciding on an area plenty far from the apartment in case he were discovered, and sheltered enough where passersby wouldn't notice the glow of his flames, Dabi carefully lit a small blue fire in one palm.

As always, it behaved like normal flames; the edges reaching upward, catching and flickering occasionally. As long as he kept it small enough, it wouldn't get out of hand. And he had his special jacket on, which also helped regulate his flames.

Now... to spin it like his technique...

He tried, really, his fingers twitching a little as he tried to push but _not_ push it outward. Maybe if he...

It was easier to spin his flames when combined with the momentum of an attack. Rather than being like throwing an American football... it was like trying to balance one of those stupidly-shaped balls on the tip of a finger.

His fingers twitched again as he tried to coax the flames clockwise.

How did Shouto do it?

It should be the same as his spin technique, but without actually _moving_.

He dissipated the little fire, opting instead to shoot a small, spinning thread toward the nearby brick wall, paying close attention to the feeling of twisting the flames. His spin method had long become instinctive. He had to work to piece together the exact way he did it.

Bringing a little flame back to his hand, he frowned in concentration as he tried mimicking the earlier feeling. He slowly twisted the energy the same way, but in the stumbling, unwieldy way of relearning a familiar skill in a different manner.

There. The flames flickered a little toward the left.

He poked at it again, going back through the steps needed.

Yes, there it was again. It twirled a little in place. The muscles in his hand were already tiring from the strain, and he really should practice with his other hand as well or he would grow a preference; but for now, he was just content to grin at the little flame, ignoring the pull of his staples.

Shouto was right—it was possible.

A shadow shifted in front of him, and he slowly dragged his eyes away from the glowing flame in his hand, still thinking about the achievement and future possibilities.

The shadow coalesced into a person shape, with the light from his flame illuminating a pile of lighter-colored fabric around its neck.

"That kid," Eraserhead commented, "he's really influenced you, hasn't he?"

Dabi only realized he was still smiling when he started to reply. He quickly dropped the expression into his practiced indifference. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Eraserhead nodded toward Dabi's hand. "Todoroki's been doing that exact thing for the past hour or two."

Dabi gave him a suspicious look, because how would he know that.

"He was on the front lawn of his dorm building. Flames are pretty noticeable in the dark." Then a manic grin spread across Eraserhead's face. "Little known fact: even the tiniest flame can be seen from over two and a half kilometers away."

But Dabi had purposefully picked a closed-in area for that reason!

Dabi's gaze trailed upward, to see the wide-open view of the night sky. Well, at least he'd thought to put some distance between himself and the apartment. He'd make sure Eraserhead didn't follow him back there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...I had thought about throwing in a scene with Shouto and Backdraft at the end, but I wasn't feeling like it'd fit right. So maybe I'll write an action scene for them later. By the way, I'd thought of most of the stuff in this chapter late one night, before I was finished with chapter 6. By the time I got to writing it out a few days later, I may have forgotten a little of what I'd wanted to say (like, regarding that last conversation). I added the little scene at the top last, because I thought the chapter needed something else (especially since I'd decided against having an action scene with Shouto at the end).
> 
> Shouto's referencing the scene at the end of episode 68, "Let's Go, Gutsy Red Riot", but Midoriya doesn't have as much on his mind, so he was more involved in the conversation than he was originally, and Bakugo has a work-study because the exam was different this time around, so he got his provisional license like Shouto—but he still wasn't in the news when the others were. He's found an article that mentions him, very briefly, now, though. The others aren't impressed.
> 
> I'm thinking of Fuyumi reappearing during the weekend. If I say that Shouto's first day was Tuesday, then that'd make this Wednesday. It's either that, or Shouto's interview was Tuesday and his first day was Wednesday, making this Thursday. (The anime only says "a few days" and "for a while" when it comes to timing for some of these events.) Either way, I'm thinking of saying a few more things before Fuyumi's scene.
> 
> Dabi's mom has brown hair and strangely-glowing solid blue eyes. I'm thinking of naming her Akiko (Aki meaning bright/luminous). The name of her quirk is Soothing Gel. She can produce a luminous blue liquid, which she can control. It's almost like a lava lamp. (By the way, while writing this chapter, I realized her quirk is kinda like Ashido's acid, only it's not acidic and it's more... bubble-like...)
> 
> Dabi's dad has black hair like Dabi, and his quirk's called Superheat. He's able to instantly heat up anything he touches. It's useful for heating food and drinks, and he often uses his palm as a stove burner. (At first I wasn't sure what fire-type quirk I could give him that wasn't 'breathing fire' or 'fire', but then I realized temperature changes could work, too. His quirk might be a little like Kendo's Big Fist quirk, in that it's only related to his hands.)
> 
> Dabi's quirk is a combination kind of quirk, taking the glowing blue color from his mom's quirk, and the extreme heat from his dad's quirk, creating his blue fire. So, in this fic's universe, it doesn't matter how hot his flames are, they'll always be blue (though it's possible they'll look slightly different depending on the temperature). Also, he inherited heat resistance from his dad. _But_... his dad only had heat resistance in his hands because of it being a hand-based quirk. His mom needed no heat resistance for her quirk.
> 
> I'll try getting the next chapter up next Tuesday or Wednesday, but it might not be until the week after. Depends on how fast I can write it, and how much real-life stuff happens. :)


	8. Of Ice Creation and Sweet Gifts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dabi still denies being a Todoroki, and Midoriya isn't the only one who can analyze a quirk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoo, I actually got this written in four days (plus one for editing). I'd thought it would take longer. Also, partway through this, I was feeling like I was running out of material, and then... I ended up inventing more side plots? Sorry that the cookies keep reappearing.
> 
> If anyone noticed some missing words near the beginning of last chapter, I fixed it. ...I hope.

Shouto practiced with his ice on the way down to the dorm's common area for breakfast.

He was more proficient with his ice side, since he had worked with it more over the years, but he was trying for even greater control now. In some ways, fire and ice were similar: they both wanted to spread, and could get out of hand easily. However, the two took completely different methods to control the way he was trying for.

Shouto had to struggle with his flames to get them to move how he wanted them to, perhaps like trying to tame a wild horse.

For his ice, on the other hand, he'd been working on keeping it from growing. The ice portion of his quirk worked a lot like frost, where it would quickly spread across any object it touched and begin forming ice crystals. If he were to control it the way Backdraft controlled water, he would need to keep it contained better than he already could.

Then there was the secondary issue: ...he couldn't shift the shape of his ice. Not without using his fire side. His ice crystals were as moldable as rocks.

The only way he knew of to move or change the shape of his ice was to grow more ice. He could build up a deformed ice sculpture that way, but it wasn't what he was going for.

It was a road block he didn't know how to push through. So, he just kept practicing with containing his ice to smaller and smaller areas. Keeping the frost to his hand and building up ice crystals. Or keeping it to one finger. Or touching the side of the elevator and keeping it within a small circle.

Or a try at forming ice cubes in his glass of juice.

He sat at the large dining table with his tray, nodding a hello to his classmates as they wished him a good morning or otherwise acknowledged his presence.

Midoriya was the only one with his head down, seeming to be completely absorbed with his phone.

Mineta approached the table, before giving Midoriya a wide berth, circling around him to sit farther away.

A few of their classmates had been a bit skittish around Midoriya lately. It was probably because of him continuing to talk to Toga. As far as Shouto knew, none of them had said anything about it—except for that one time with Asui, at least. One day she had asked, 'Midoriya, are you talking to a villain?' and Midoriya had insisted it wasn't how it seemed and ran from the room.

Shouto could see how communicating with a villain could look bad. However, it was a little rude to judge without knowing the whole situation.

Perhaps he should let Midoriya know he was also talking to a member of the League. Except he had promised Fuyumi he wouldn't tell anyone about Dabi yet.

He was pulled from his thoughts by a quiet, "Oh, shoot."

Beside him, Yaoyorozu was staring at a pencil. She had a few pages of notebook paper next to her tray of food.

"Is that for the essay due next week?" Shouto asked.

"Yes," she answered. "I was making a few notes when my lead broke."

She activated her quirk and a small object began to form from her arm. Shouto watched as it became a pencil sharpener.

After a moment, she asked, kindly, "Todoroki, was there something you needed?"

Oh. She had already finished and had paused in the middle of sharpening her pencil.

He hadn't realized he had been staring that long. He looked away, saying, "Apologies."

Then he changed his mind and said, "Actually... Yaoyorozu, when you use your quirk, how do you shape the objects you create?"

She blinked. "Well..." Her eyebrows furrowed a little. "I imagine what I want to create, and then I create it."

"...Oh."

"Is this related to what you've been doing with your hand this morning?" she asked.

He had been repeatedly growing ice crystals on the back of his right hand and then melting them using his left hand.

He decided to nod.

She smiled as she said, "Give me a little time to gather my thoughts, and I'll get back to you, alright?"

* * *

Shouto was listening to Ectoplasm explain the new Mathematics unit, when Midoriya's muttering became noticeable.

"She sent the text fifteen minutes after I sent mine, so, if I assume she walked, she would probably be going about six kilometers per hour. Fifteen minutes is a fourth of an hour, so that would be about one point five kilometers. Unless she had transportation, in which she may have been traveling around fifty kilometers per hour, so a fourth of that is... Twelve and a half kilometers. That would mean they're located either near or within the city. Would they really pick here, despite the high hero presence? Maybe it's to be closer to UA. But I can't assume it's the right location based on a single test; she might not have been at their base at the time. But even if she was, I would need to run a few more tests to verify and pinpoint the exact location..."

"Midoriya," Ectoplasm said, startling Midoriya from his thoughts. "This may be Math class, but I would prefer you to pay attention to _today's_ topic. If you don't find it challenging enough, you may see me after class for extra work."

As Ectoplasm spoke, Midoriya sunk deeper and deeper into his seat. "Y-yes, sir."

* * *

(Earlier.)

Dabi glanced up as one of Kurogiri's portals formed within the apartment.

Toga skipped out of the portal, a large plastic container of cookies in her arms. She seemed a lot happier today. Very _bouncy_.

"My boyfriend's so nice! He ordered me cookies after hearing about _someone_ eating my other ones."

Why was she looking at _him_ as she said that?

"Oh! I need to remember to thank him after I put these down."

"Wait, what did you mean by 'ordered'?" Dabi asked. "You didn't tell him this address, did you?"

"Of course not. He had them delivered to a park, and I picked them up," she said with a smile. "Of course, he wouldn't have had to if _someone else_ had bought me some." Then she pouted. "If your brother were here, I bet _he_ would've been nice enough to buy me replacement cookies."

"Stop calling him my brother," Dabi said wearily. Despite her better mood, she still had to talk that way.

Kurogiri said, "Dabi is right, your teasing is unfair when he was ordered to partake in this masquerade. Additionally, regardless of whether Dabi is truly related to the young Todoroki—"

Dabi's eyes widened in surprise. "Hey, wait—we're not related."

" _Regardless_ of whether Dabi is truly related to the young Todoroki, you should not antagonize him over eating some of your cookies, as you had left them sitting in the kitchen for all to see."

"Wait..." Dabi said, turning his gaze to Toga. " _That_ was why you were so upset with me yesterday? I thought you brought those back to share. If I knew that wasn't the case, I probably would've asked before eating two of them." _Probably_. Maybe.

"Two?" Toga repeated, appearing confused.

"I believe Tomura Shigaraki ate quite a few," Kurogiri mentioned, seemingly trying to play it off as a casual remark.

* * *

Shouto was eating lunch when Yaoyorozu approached him.

"My quirk requires an elemental knowledge of the object I want to create. Once I know the chemical makeup, I can duplicate the material or materials. I also need to have a good understanding of the object inside-and-out. Such as, if I were to try creating a clock, then without having knowledge of the inner workings, I could make an object that _resembles_ a clock, but is solid wood on the inside, or completely hollow. I could add some gears to control its hands, but I don't have enough knowledge to make it tell time accurately.

"As for the actual process of shaping an object, I need to concentrate while forming it from my body. There is a brief moment in which I can mold my lipids into the exact shape I want. If I become distracted partway through, the object may not turn out as intended. I usually pause in using my quirk until I can regain focus. Let's say I create a pencil. I would begin by imagining the long graphite core, surrounded by cedar wood, and coated with yellow paint. The outer shape is a long, hexagonal cylinder, which tapers to a point on one end. Now, if I were partway through creating the pencil and became distracted, and didn't pause to collect my thoughts, the outcome would depend on the amount of focus I'm able to retain. Perhaps half of the pencil would be round rather than hexagonal. Or perhaps it would _look_ perfectly normal, except for the graphite core not continuing through the entire length. Or, if I were to _completely_ lose focus while continuing to use my quirk, it _may_ , for instance, become a fist-sized lumpy mass of wood, streaked with veins of yellow paint and graphite."

That last hypothetical outcome seemed oddly specific to Shouto.

"The time it takes me to create an object depends on how large or complex it is. However, the more times I make the same object, the more the process becomes ingrained in my memory and the faster it becomes. Such as my Russian nesting dolls or metal rods. However, no matter how well I can visualize the outcome, it also takes time to gather and form my lipids. During the training camp, I had focused on that physical aspect," she said.

"You have put a lot of thought into this since this morning," Shouto commented.

She blushed a little in embarrassment. "Ah, sorry. I realized you were working on training your quirk, so I tried to be as thorough as I could in case something helped."

"No, it's fine," Shouto tried to assure her. "You've given me some ideas to try with my ice. I'm just not sure I'll be able to remember everything."

"Oh. Then this might help," she said, handing him a three-page stapled document. A glance at the subheadings showed that it said the same things she had told him—and maybe more. On the page about pencil creation, she had also mentioned the graphite-to-clay ratio, and ingredients for yellow paint. And added an eraser and something called a ferrule.

Midoriya abruptly stood and slammed his hands onto the table, leaning toward her. "Can I have a copy, Yaoyorozu?!" he said, despite having been taking notes for the past few minutes.

"Midoriya! That is very rude!" Iida said.

"No, it's okay," she said with an uneasy smile. "Sure, Midoriya."

"Can I also ask a few questions about your quirk?" Midoriya asked. It almost looked like he was vibrating in excitement.

"...Well, alright," she said.

"Is there a limit to how small you can make an object? Such as being able to go beyond the physical limitations of building small objects by hand? Are there certain materials you _can't_ duplicate? Is weight a factor? Do you need to know an object's precise measurements?"

Yaoyorozu struggled to answer the questions. Partly because Midoriya kept asking more before she could answer. "N-no, I don't need to know the exact measurements. Having a feel for the right size is more important than knowing an exact number in centimeters."

"Wait..." Shouto said, a question of his own coming to mind. "I apologize, but, in the hospital after the attack on the training camp, I overheard you talking about a device you had made. If you need to understand the inner workings of an object in order to create it, how were you able to make that device if it was your first time creating one?"

"Ah, about that... Midoriya, did you have any more questions?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title has so much meaning packed into it this time. (Shouto's working on his ice creation, Yaoyorozu's quirk is creation, Toga thinks Midoriya's gift is sweet, cookies are literally sweet. You might could also call Yaoyorozu's printout and stuff a gift, maybe.)
> 
> Sorry if I got anything wrong about quirk stuff. ...Or if it was boring. (In the world of this fic, despite Bakugo not needing to be rescued and there not being a team of students going on a rescue mission, Yaoyorozu still made her tracker for the nomu and told All Might and detective Tsukauchi about it. They were like, 'She has a creation quirk—seems legit.' Momo, on the other hand, was like, 'It's a good thing I have experience making tracking devices.')
> 
> The one time Midoriya forgets about quirks. With Kurogiri, the League could be anywhere. But he's probably coincidentally right about them being in Mustafar. Also... could those be considered Tracking Cookies?
> 
> Sorry about mixing American and British stuff. I'm not sure if I've used American measurements earlier in the fic or not, but I thought I should use metric measurements because they do in the dub (and in Japan). The idea's kinda to write the fic in American English, but keep the location as Japan (...or a Star Wars' fan's version of Japan. I'm still unsure of whether I should use the real Star Wars names for places, or go with the transcribed-from-English-to-Japanese-to-English names. Every time I see those, I think, 'but that's not how it should be spelled'. I think it's more of a language issue than a Japanese issue, meaning I can use the original English names, but it could go either way, since the English names aren't very Japanese and this is Japan). Anyhow, I'm trying to use metrics for real measurements, but I may casually say 'a few feet' without thinking. I think I've explained the metric numbers well enough in-fic to not need a guide (but in case you need one: 6km/h=walking speed, 12.5km=less than the length of the city, 50km/h=Midoriya's guess at how fast a car (or bus?) goes within a city (though the guess is wrong), cm=small, precise measurement).
> 
> ...I'm also thinking about having a sad flashback chapter with a younger Dabi and Hawks, after the chapter with Fuyumi. Because I guess I need to put Hawks into Dabi's backstory somehow. I don't know much about the manga, though (except what I keep looking up on the Wikis), so I might get some characterization and fact things wrong.


	9. Groups of Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dabi still denies being a Todoroki, and Shouto does some work-studying.

A couple hours ago, it was revealed that Shigaraki had eaten most of Toga's cookies, and, more importantly in his opinion, had then blamed it on Dabi.

And so, Dabi, Toga, and—surprisingly—Kurogiri sat around tossing out ideas for getting back at the boss.

Kurogiri secretly had a humorous streak—who knew? Or at least, Dabi _thought_ Kurogiri did. It was hard to tell for sure. He just kind of hovered, and occasionally said a random thought.

Toga absent-mindedly twirled a knife in her hand. "Oh! Dabi!" she said, briefly jabbing the knife in his direction. "You're practically a ghost, right—being legally dead and all—can you do ghostie stuff?" She made a large figure eight with the knife, as though imitating flying around the room.

"I'm not legally dead," Dabi said, not sure where Toga even got that idea. And why would she think he could _fly_?

"Sure you are." She adopted an exaggerated wistful tone, putting her hands, plus knife, over her heart as she said, "Poor Touya Todoroki, who tragically died and left unfinished business behind. Now never to find rest, until those responsible pay for their crimes with blood."

"Toga what in the world are you talking about?"

"Maybe I should tell Izu that you're dead, and _that's_ why your flames are blue."

" _No_. I'm not Touya, and I've never faked—or _not_ faked—my death. Don't be telling people I've _died_!"

Kurogiri chose that moment to speak up. "I believe we are getting off-topic. Dabi," he said and turned his attention to him, "can you float your flames in midair, or around a room?"

"Yeah! That!" Toga added.

Dabi blinked. "Uh... I don't _think_ so? There's a possibility my quirk could involve a little telekinesis, but my flames die out once they're separate from my hands." He flicked his hand, pushing a little flame away from him, which quickly vanished in a trail of smoke. "Ghostly flames are supposed to be cold, anyhow. Shigaraki would know something's up." Although, it could be something he could try practicing.

* * *

The class had combat training today. All Might randomly separated them into groups of three, with the directive to understand each of their teammate's strengths and weaknesses in order to defeat the opposing team. With several of their class having work-studies, and the others able to if they so chose, their teacher explained it was important to understand how to work together in a synergetic way.

The work-studies were also, ironically, why they could split into even groups of three. Bakugo and Tokoyami were absent today, leaving eighteen students.

Shouto's teammates were Hagakure and Mineta.

It wasn't the first time Shouto had worked with Hagakure, but he was still afraid he would injure her without realizing it. He always seemed to forget she _existed_. He knew it was horrible of him, and there were probably several different insinuations about how he viewed women or something—he wasn't very good at interpreting things like that—but she was just... _invisible_. He always avoided her as much as possible, afraid something would go wrong if he were around her. She could even be the third of his classmates to end up with a crushed hand. It seemed like the universe really wanted him to mess up, however, since he was pretty sure he was randomly paired up either with her or against her more often than was fair.

And then there was Mineta...

And Shouto was drawing a blank.

He knew who Mineta _was_ , of course. It was just... He had no idea how their quirks could work together. Perhaps Mineta would have some ideas.

All Might was still explaining the rest of the scenario, when Shouto's phone started ringing.

It was the special ring tone he'd set up recently. So he had a bad feeling.

He caught All Might's eye even while retrieving his phone.

And the tense feeling increased as he heard the situation.

"Is that about your work-study?" All Might asked, his tone serious.

Shouto nodded.

"Go."

And so Shouto did. His footsteps picked up speed as he walked across the room to the exit, ignoring the loud whispers around him. At least he already had his hero costume on.

"I didn't know Todoroki had a work-study..."

"I wonder who he has a work-study with..."

"Todoroki had a work-study and didn't say anything?"

"Is he working with his dad?"

"I thought they usually went in during the mornings?"

Just as he passed through the doors, there was a shout of, "I'm stuck with someone whose only power is _invisibility_? I'm going to _fail_!"

By the time he was at the front doors of the school, he was running. He used his quirk to boost his speed even farther.

From the very beginning, Backdraft had told him he would probably get some emergency calls, but he couldn't help feeling a little sick to his stomach. Any emergency meant people were in danger. He couldn't feel happy about being called in if it meant lives were at stake. How could All Might smile in the face of such a thing?

There was a _magma_ villain downtown, of all things. To consider the quirk as 'magma', rather than lava, or even just fire, it must have been extremely dangerous.

Who was _Shouto_ for Backdraft to call him for help? All Might had been _right there_ , and Shouto didn't even think to ask him to come with him. Any of the teachers would have been a better choice than an inexperienced first-year student.

As he neared the location, he could see smoke and flames rising from a few high-rise buildings. There were sirens sounding, and he passed by a few fire trucks.

Several buildings were completely covered by flame. Where was the villain?

Something about his boots felt off—like he'd stepped in gum—and he looked down to see that the road had become a lumpy mass of semi-soft rock. Parts of it still glowed a dim orange. He activated his ice to run on, and to hopefully help cool down the ground.

Heroes zigzagged here and there, avoiding patches of lava and pulling people to safety.

The heat was horrible. The view around him was distorted by the rising hot air. How could anyone else take this?

A stream of water in the distance led Shouto to Backdraft, who was working on one of the burning buildings. Steam was rising off the pro hero's shoulders.

"What happened?" Shouto asked. "Is the villain still causing more damage?"

"Death Arms has him under control," Backdraft said, using a thin and dripping hand to point.

Shouto turned his head to see the handcuffed villain a few buildings over with some heroes. He was a brown-skinned man with trailing, glowing orange eyes that reminded Shouto of the League's warp villain. Or perhaps a volcano. From this distance, Shouto could barely make out the scar on his cheek—curiously, it was the same shape as the one on the shoplifter from before.

"He's a small-time crook—usually nowhere near this dangerous," Backdraft said. He sounded a little winded. "He has a lava-spitting quirk. Must've taken a quirk-enhancing drug—but the effects didn't last more than a few minutes."

Shouto activated his ice to help cool Backdraft down. He didn't think the water hero would be able to go on much longer in this heat.

Backdraft waved him off. "Go see if you can help create a path for the fire trucks," he said instead.

Shouto gave a firm nod and turned back the way he'd come.

Patches of cooling lava were scattered all around the area, with most being at the assumed center of the earlier fight.

A few heroes were using shovels to shape the still-soft black rock. One with a yellow cape and beak-shaped aviator-helmet-like-mask waved his arm over his head. "Hey, kid! I saw you run by a minute ago—an ice quirk, right?" His hero name might've been Slipstream, but Shouto wasn't certain.

Shouto jogged over to him. "Yes. Ice and fire."

"Oh! Even better." Slipstream tilted his head to the side in thought. "You're Endeavor's kid, aren't you? Saw you during the Sports Festival."

Shouto frowned, but nodded.

"Well, we'll be glad to have your help. Here's the situation: lava's blocking both ends of the road, and emergency vehicles can't get in. We can smooth some of this out," he said, pointing to the ground, "but it could take _hours_ to completely cool, even using my quirk. Think you can get it done faster?"

Shouto nodded. "Tell me when you're ready, and I'll cover it in ice. Everyone will need to get back when I do it, because it'll release a lot of steam."

Slipstream gave him a thumbs up and a grin. "Got it!"

Shouto debated on finding a shovel to help out in the meantime, when he overheard someone saying, "This door's welded shut—I can't get in!"

Turning his head, Shouto saw a hero struggling with a metal door. The baseball-themed hero outfit and large glove on the left hand were familiar—he was somewhat sure his name was Slugger.

Shouto ran over to him.

"Can I help?"

"Huh? Sure—it'll be a big help if you can get the door open! We've been checking each building for civilians, just in case."

The building's first floor was concrete, with the single door. Only the higher floors had windows.

Shouto looked at the door for a moment, before saying, "I think I can melt the edges so the door will come free. But if there's a chance of anyone being next to the door, they could get injured."

"Right," the hero said with a nod. Then shouted, "If anyone's in there, please stay away from the door!"

They both paused to listen.

After a few seconds, Slugger nodded his okay.

Shouto concentrated on pouring as much power as he could into his fire while twisting it into a thin line. The flame became bright yellow. He traced the seams of the door, leaving behind a glowing red outline.

Just as he finished, the door started to fall inward. Slugger's gloved hand shot out to grab the doorknob.

Slugger pulled the door out of the doorway, strings of melted steel trailing behind like pizza cheese. He grunted at the weight and quickly set the door against the side of the building. Then looked to Shouto. "We didn't _hear_ anyone, but there was still a chance of someone being close by, and possibly unconscious. Using your quirk was a calculated risk—but there was no reason to drop a metal door on them, right?"

Shouto thought Slugger was oddly cheerful for voicing such a dark scenario, but he guessed it was just a part of everyday life for heroes.

"Come on," Slugger said, gesturing with his head, "Let's check the building."

* * *

When Shouto got back to the dorms after sunset, he was exhausted. He went straight for the first floor showers, both to wash off the ash and to relax his muscles.

A few of the other guys were there, and Shouto would have walked right past them, but Kaminari—blond hair damp and a towel around his waist—called out to him.

" _Wow_ , Todoroki—you reek! What were you _doing_ at your work-study?"

Shouto stared at him for a few seconds.

Did he really have to explain why he had soot in his hair and smelled like smoke?

"Why didn't you _tell us_ you'd landed a work-study, anyway? Everyone was surprised!"

Shouto stood there awkwardly. He really wasn't in the mood to think up responses right now. He just wanted to take a shower and go to sleep.

"Hey, man," Kirishima whispered to Kaminari, "I don't think he's in the mood to talk."

Shouto was grateful to Kirishima for saying so.

"But wait," Kaminari said, "I thought you should know—your team won the training exercise. Mineta's plan was really cool! He set up some traps around the area, and then when the opposing team tried to avoid them, Hagakure used her stealthiness to push them right into them!"

Shouto smiled. "Thank you for telling me," he said, relieved he hadn't doomed his teammates. He then continued his way to the shower supplies.

It seemed Mineta hadn't failed the assignment after all. Though he tended to be overly emotional, Mineta could come up with some good plans when he needed to.

* * *

Dabi really needed to stop going out at night. Petty criminals kept approaching him about joining the League.

As if any of them were good enough.

He lit his hand.

Every time the pitiful creatures would bug him, he would start thinking about Shouto's ramblings about his teachers and classmates. How it seemed like every single person at UA was actually worth something. Even some kid in Shouto's class that sounded like a real pest, but was also a true hero deep down.

Dabi marked the guy in front of him, like he had all the others. The sign of being unworthy for the League.

The man screeched, tears running down his face. He grabbed at his blistering cheek and stumbled away as soon as Dabi let go of him, not even trying to retaliate.

Dabi was alone in the dark alley for only a few seconds, when there was a woosh of something dropping to the pavement behind him. He turned to see a man standing up.

"Eraserhead. So you're here." He wasn't even surprised when the guy popped up anymore.

"You realize it's illegal to use your quirk to injure people?" Eraserhead asked, sounding more tired than upset.

"Pretty sure I'm already on the wrong side of the law by being in the League of Villains."

"Fair enough."

Eraserhead looked away from Dabi, in the direction the crook had fled. "So, another one. Should be easy enough to find later."

Of course it would be. Dabi had chosen the branding's location so it would be almost impossible to hide. Either from the rest of the League, so they wouldn't get a second chance, or from the police and heroes. Whoever looked at them would know they were failed recruits for the League of Villains.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In episode 2, besides Backdraft, there's also Slugger (who was apparently also in a videogame or something), and another hero, who I couldn't find any info about online. After taking a few screenshots, I noticed the word 'Slipstream' on the side of a building he was standing beside, and I thought that sounded like a fitting hero name, so I just used that. ...So I named him after a business. But maybe that word was used on the building on purpose. I mean, it was right above his head.
> 
> I'd wanted to squeeze more into this chapter, but I guess it'll need to wait until next time. This has been a very long day already (especially since the first chapters spanned weeks rather than hours), and Shouto ended up more tired than I'd first expected. Actually, that situation had ended up a bit more serious than I'd expected. I had thought that the villain would probably already be captured by the time he got there, and there not be all that much to do, but lava's kinda a big deal. Also, I rewrote that part about opening the door using his fire a few times (or more like, rewrote what happens after that point). I realized my first thought would be too similar to Dabi's backstory and would be weird to mirror it without telling what it is yet. My second thought just wasn't working. So then I just decided to have him open the door without anything happening.
> 
> Shouto might've decided he wants to be a rescue hero, but he's still used to thinking about fighting villains, so his first thought went to stopping the villain rather than helping with rescue efforts. ...But it's also good to know what the situation is with a villain.
> 
> Deleted paragraph: "If Shouto hadn’t already found Touya, perhaps he would have pondered on this young-looking red-headed hero, whose eyes were completely covered by his mask. However, there were many twenty-something red-headed people in the world, and no Todoroki was that cheerful—save for Fuyumi, at least—so he gave it no thought." ...Slipstream (or whatever his real name is) has spikey red hair. I had considered having this in the fic, but after deciding to actually use names rather than 'the hero' for everyone, I figured an obviously air-related quirk (assuming his costume has something to do with his quirk) wouldn't make sense. Especially since Shouto might know what his quirk is.
> 
> Mineta's not all that bad a guy. He's just the annoying kid you have to roll your eyes at for his immaturity. Although, I wasn't really planning on him making an appearance in the fic, but after I'd thought up that scene with Dabi and Eraserhead (which I did right after I wrote chapter 4 - I just didn't have a place to put it until now) and mentioned him, I ended up adding him to a few scenes. Well, now Shouto has more of an excuse for telling Dabi he's not a bad kid. (Also, now you know why I'd mentioned that odd detail about the shoplifter from before having a scar. And why Dabi reacted the way he did when Shouto mentioned it. Also, despite the quirk drug manufactoring being haulted due to Eri being taken away, there's still some samples floating around.)
> 
> ...I don't actually know much about the blue ghost flame things. I'm kinda assuming they're not supposed to be hot or burn, but I couldn't find much about them online. However, I've kinda been wondering why I haven't seen fanfics drawing connections between Dabi having blue flames and blue flames being related to ghosts. I mean, if he's really Touya, then the blue flames seem kinda like a hint, don't they? Why does no one seem to see that? I wanna see some vigilante fics about Touya or Dabi having a ghost-related alias and being all phantom-like. It'd be neat. Dabi could be so creepy if he plays up his flames as representing ghost stuff. Though he might would need to wear white.


	10. Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dabi still denies being a Todoroki, and his conscience tries to tell him something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A conversation with Crazy1201 (and later Razell on fanfiction.net) inspired the first scene.

He was sitting on the couch, Shouto on his right and Fuyumi on his left, with Natsuo on Fuyumi's other side. The Todoroki family's couch was vaguely similar to the one in the League's apartment, but a couch was a couch.

They were just relaxing together, no words needed. The three siblings occasionally smiled at him with kind, matching sets of blue-and-gray eyes.

Fuyumi was a little on the small side, and wore her deep red hair in neat buns, while Natsuo had a large build, but had spiky hair like his own, besides it being bright red rather than black.

Shouto started talking about something his school friends had done the other day.

Then the front door opened, and Shouto broke off as they all glanced up.

The person in the doorway could almost pass as his twin—the same height and build, the same blue eyes, the same hairstyle besides the color being very dark red rather than black. And another difference was the less noticeable burn scars, barely pink against his skin.

The person threw him a hateful look. "Why is there a villain sitting in my spot?" Even his voice sounded similar.

Fuyumi gestured at him, saying, "This is Touya-Two."

Shouto said, gravely, "He's my new favorite brother."

"I fake my death for a few years and you replace me?" the real Touya said, looking horrified. "He's a villain!" The glare returned as he turned his electric blue eyes back to him. "How can you accept him—after what he did to _Mom_?"

His eyes widened at the accusation. "That was Endeavor's fault!"

"Yeah? Then what color are those flames?" Touya asked with a sneer, throwing his arm out to point to the side.

And there she was, with her short brown hair beginning to singe and solid blue eyes wide in desperate fear as she stared at him, blue flames surrounding her.

Shouto said sadly, "The doctors were going to release her soon."

"So much for being her 'saving son'," Touya said hatefully, "Mr. _fire origin_. You're a dangerous nobody. They were _right_ to give up on you."

"No they _weren't_!" he yelled, his voice becoming a hateful growl. "I'll kill them! I'll kill them all! All the false heroes!"

Blue flames erupted from him, consuming the real Touya. And also spreading to Shouto, his eyes wide in desperate fear.

Dabi jerked to a sitting position.

Someone whistled close by. "That's _some_ dedication."

Dabi squinted into the shadows, trying to see who was there. Green skin—most likely Spinner.

And, great—he'd caught his own face on fire again. He reached up to smother the little flames.

It didn't look like he'd set anything else on fire.

Had he fallen asleep on the couch last night? Well, obviously, since he was lying on it now.

"I mean," Spinner said, "I _do_ dream about Stain sometimes, but I could _really_ feel your—"

"What time is it?" Dabi said wearily, not in the mood for Spinner's rambling. With how dark the room was, it couldn't be daylight yet.

"Four thirty."

He didn't care why Spinner was in the living room at four thirty in the morning, so he didn't ask.

When Spinner started to speak again, Dabi lay back down and rolled over to face the back of the couch.

Stupid dream.

All he could really remember was getting upset and torching Shouto, but he felt like there had been more to it before that, something happier. And maybe some scattered feelings about family and duplicity. But he couldn't quite bring the scenes to mind.

It was stupid anyhow. His ambitions weren't going to hurt Shouto like that. His goals and Shouto were mutually exclusive. And they would remain that way.

* * *

Shouto's phone was ringing.

He groaned. He just wanted to stay asleep, but still slowly rolled over to reach for the phone. He felt sore. And why was his phone in the bed with him? He had been talking to Dabi, right? He cracked one eye open just long enough to see where to press to answer the call. "Sorry for falling asleep on you, Touya," he said.

"Shouto," came an alarmed voice, followed by a curse. "My finger slipped, I didn't mean to bother you this early!" Then there was a pause. "Wait, did you say 'Touya'?"

Shouto opened one eye again to look at his phone screen. "Oh. Hello, Natsuo."

"Yeah, hi. But why did you say 'Touya'? And what happened last night?"

Shouto guessed he wasn't going to be able to sleep longer. He rubbed his eyes and said, "I got called in for my work-study to help with a villain attack, and got back after dark. I think it's already caught up with me, by the way—any advice for dealing with sore and stiff muscles?"

"You probably know more about that than I do. Did you stay hydrated? And _no_ , sucking on your own ice doesn't count."

Shouto didn't answer.

"Did you at least take a hot bath right afterward?"

"A hot shower."

"Okay, good. And if it's really already setting in, then try a cool one this morning. And you know getting up and moving around will help as long as you don't over do it. Oh, and also massaging the affected areas." Then he muttered, "The old man really should know better than to overwork you when you have hero classes the next day."

"My work-study isn't with him. I just overdid things."

"Oh. _Oooh_. That's great, little bro!"

Shouto could easily imagine Natsuo's huge grin.

"His face must've been priceless when you told him!"

"I never actually told him. I haven't spoken with him in weeks."

"Seriously?! And he hasn't called to yell at you yet? This is great. What if he doesn't even know? You _have_ to film it when you tell him."

Shouto's morning alarm sounded, and he turned it off, checking the time. "I'll think about it. I need to get ready for class, now, so I'll talk to you another time. Goodbye, Natsuo."

"Hey, wait. Shouto, you never explained the weird greeting."

Shouto got up to get his school uniform. "I was half-asleep and didn't think about what I was saying."

"Oh," Natsuo said, suddenly quiet. "You've been dreaming about Touya?"

Shouto frowned, not sure what he was allowed to say without breaking his promise. "Fuyumi said not to tell you what's been going on yet."

"Fuyumi knows?" A whine entered his voice. "Why doesn't she want _me_ to know?"

Shouto kept the phone to his ear while he struggled into his pants with his other hand. "We've been planning on telling you eventually."

He was beginning to think it wasn't possible to put on pants single-handedly.

Natsuo turned serious again, sounding somewhat wistful. "Just don't forget me, okay? The three of us need to stick together."

* * *

After classes ended for the day, Shouto finally had some free time to look through the stapled papers Yaoyorozu had given him yesterday.

The front and back of the last page looked like photocopied entries from an encyclopedia, about the formation of frost, snowflakes, and ice. There were notes in the margins comparing and contrasting those three things with how her creation quirk worked, and ideas for possible techniques.

She had been very thorough and concise.

Although Shouto had already thought of his right side as being similar to frost, and had even thought of his ice as something that wanted to grow and build continuously, he hadn't quite put it together. Ice grew and shaped itself over time, building up to the final shapes. Yaoyorozu's quirk also dealt with building up her lipids.

If he could control the _way_ his ice grew, he might could create objects like Yaoyorozu could.

Well, _ice_ objects.

It made more sense than his original idea of changing the shape of his ice after it had already formed, the way he was trying to use his fire.

On page four of the six pages—three front and back—Yaoyorozu listed some general advice, such as deciding on a go-to object. Something general-purpose that he would use often. Like a weapon. She'd touched on the subject in person yesterday, but went into more detail on paper about how the process of creating a certain object can become almost instinctual when said object is created over and over.

So... What weapon could Shouto see becoming his signature? Something simple, but also useful.

A European-style long sword.

Made of clear ice.

Like knights and princes.

Yes.

Before Shouto could start second-guessing himself, he activated his quirk and tried concentrating on the feeling of the ice forming.

He'd previously spent half an hour concentrating on the feel of his ice as he made little crystals in the palm of his hand—he could do this. It would be like when he'd iced over his left side for aesthetic effect, only on a micro level. When his eyes were closed, he could feel the ice growing, feel the way his own power moved when lacking any direction. He could give it that direction.

He started with the blade's tip and added to it until transitioning to a hand guard, handle, and a round pummel at the end. He caught it around the handle as he stopped using his quirk, and opened his eyes.

And... it wasn't clear. And looked more like a flattened stick with a handle than like a sword. Shouto was decidedly not a sculptor. Perhaps Yaoyorozu should have mentioned the relevance of artistic talent.

A bit disgusted with himself, he switched it to his left hand and melted it.

What would he have used a sword for, anyhow? When he actually thought it through, they were archaic, and the whole reason for a blade was to cut things. To draw blood. Hadn't he decided he wanted to save lives? Why would he want to get into fancy-looking duels? Especially if he was the only one holding a sword in said duel?

Shouto didn't even know how to use a sword.

Or any other weapon, for that matter. His father had always only focused on Shouto using his quirk.

* * *

"Iida, what do girls like? I need more ideas," Izuku said, looking up from the map he was drawing circles on.

"Well, flowers or chocolates can be a friendly gesture. Of course, you could also personalize a gift based on an individual's preferences and personality."

* * *

"Hello, Touya."

"Not Touya."

Nor Touya-Two.

Dabi had no idea where the thought of someone calling him 'Touya-Two' came from. He was pretty sure Shouto had never called him that.

"I apologize for falling asleep last night," Shouto said.

"Sounded like you had a hard day. Besides, I hung up on you last time, so it's fair."

"But I didn't mind that. And there was more I wanted to tell you about last night."

Dabi realized he had a lot he could tell Shouto about, as well.

He wondered if he should ask what the deal was with Toga and the Midoriya kid, since he was pretty sure Midoriya was one of Shouto's close friends.

About an hour ago, Toga had come through one of Kurogiri's portals with a bouquet of deep red flowers. She had gushed about how 'her boyfriend' said he picked those particular flowers because he thought the color resembled blood.

However, everyone knew giving a girl flowers was supposed to mean deep love or something, right? Especially if the flowers were red?

However, it wasn't really Dabi's business.

Shouto told him about the progress he was making with his fire and ice, with the help of Backdraft and one of his school friends.

Dabi laughed at the story of attempting an _ice sword_ and having no artistic talent, and told Shouto to keep trying—though maybe something other than a sword.

He then told Shouto about his own progress with his fire, and about some of his, Toga's, and Kurogiri's ideas for pranks to play on Shigaraki.

Shouto seemed more amused than abhorred that all of Toga's ideas involved blood or stabbing and were repeatedly vetoed. Shouto asked if he could get in on the prank, and Dabi refused to let him anywhere near the hideout.

Shouto also said he was looking forward to meeting with him and Fuyumi tomorrow afternoon.

They had previously decided to meet near UA during the weekend, after Shouto's work-study, and when Fuyumi didn't have work. Dabi was looking forward to it, as well. As long as Shouto's sister didn't get him arrested, that was. He was hoping she could clear up the misunderstanding about him being Touya.

Not that Dabi didn't like talking to the kid, but he would rather not be mistaken for a dead guy.

Shouto then started talking about the lava incident from yesterday. Shouto had rambled a little about it last night before falling asleep, and Dabi had seen a little footage of it on the news.

Dabi hadn't thought much of it. Not like he cared about a little property damage.

However, as Shouto started talking about it again, Dabi could see it'd had an impact on him. It sounded like the kid was reliving the experience, trying to process what he had seen yesterday. Dabi could almost imagine being there himself, surrounded by heat and flames, boots sinking into molten rock, civilians crying, buildings breaking down.

"It was so much worse in person than how it looked on the news. And it had happened so _quickly_ , Touya. By the time I got there, the fight was already over and lava and fire was everywhere. It was so hot that doors were welded shut. There wasn't time for people to leave before things got bad."

Shouto continued, "And it could have been so much worse. The villain was already in handcuffs when I arrived, and there were so many heroes on the scene, making sure no one was trapped in any of the buildings and also helping to clear the roads for emergency responders. He could have caused so much more destruction if things had happened just a little differently. If it had gone on for longer, if the heroes hadn't gotten there as quickly, if there had been people on the street. There were several people injured by fire, debris, or smoke inhalation, but no one had died. I'm so glad no one had died."

Dabi wondered if Shouto still wanted to be a hero, after experiencing something like that.

"Yes," Shouto said. Then said, "Actually, the hero killer incident was more traumatic."

Hero killer incident? Had Shouto seen Stain in person?

Then Dabi recalled there having been something on the news about a few UA kids being saved that night when Stain had been caught and the videos started going viral.

Shouto had been one of them?

He couldn't really remember. He hadn't cared about any of that back then, besides thinking that Stain might've had the right idea. Dabi hadn't focused on any of the victims.

Had Stain found Shouto to be a true hero?

He knew Stain had approved of the Midoriya kid. But Dabi couldn't remember hearing about Stain approving of anyone other than All Might and Midoriya.

So much for Midoriya being a hero, though. He's been consorting with a villain. ...Although, Shouto was as well.

"The more situations I experience," Shouto said, "the more I feel the need to help. If I can help keep people from dying or being hurt, nothing else matters. I want to be there to keep people from experiencing things like yesterday."

* * *

Dabi wore his hooded jacket that night as he snuck around the closed off street.

The damage didn't even take in a whole block. The police caution tape and road barricades wouldn't make much difference for most people. And only a few of the buildings really looked all that bad.

A smoky smell still lingered heavily in the air. It wasn't quite the same as the smell of a normal house fire. Most likely because of the lava rock mixed in with it. The road was built up in some areas, which must've been the cooled lava Shouto had helped with. One building had caution tape across its gaping doorway. The door itself sat to the side.

Dabi went up to the doorway, tracing the warped edge with his finger. It was most likely the one Shouto had said he'd cut through to get in. Dabi lit a small flame as he peaked inside.

"There you are."

Dabi kept himself from reacting, clenching his teeth to tamp down on the impulse to jump. He turned slowly, vanishing the flame as he looked over his shoulder. "Eraser." Why did it seem like the guy always showed up right after he activated his quirk?

"Any reason you decided to meet here specifically?" Eraserhead asked. He sounded a touch suspicious.

Eraserhead had called Dabi earlier, requesting they meet somewhere to talk. Dabi figured he might as well check out the property damage if he was going to be out tonight. And the ruins of a fire seemed like a fitting place for Dabi to be.

Dabi smirked. "Why not? Feels like home here." He spread his arms, hoping to show how much he fit in with his surroundings. Though his ragged trench coat would've made more of an impact.

Eraserhead studied Dabi for another second or two—why was he so suspicious tonight?—then held up a piece of paper. "He look familiar?"

Dabi lit a small fire in his palm again.

It was a mugshot of a guy with smoke-like, glowing orange eyes.

"He's the one who caused this," Eraserhead said with a vague gesture at their surroundings.

The guy had one of Dabi's marks on his cheek.

He vaguely recalled those molten eyes glaring, smoke from the corners trailing in the breeze. Recalled the guy trying to spit on Dabi when he'd been turned down.

Dabi glanced up from the photo, at the destruction around him. He could almost see the flames that had once eaten at the blackened areas of the buildings, Shouto running back and forth, trying to help as much as possible.

This was Dabi's fault.

His eyes darted back and forth over the street. Families had lived in a few of those high-rises. Some of the buildings had broken windows, sagging walls. Collapsed floors. What would have happened to those left behind if—?

No, no, no. His rejects were supposed to run away with their tails between their legs and end up either dead or arrested—not go around throwing _lava_ at stuff and putting innocent people in danger.

Dabi should have just killed them. What kind of coward was he to shove off the responsibility to someone else?

"Stop."

Dabi looked toward the voice and saw Eraserhead's eyes glowing red.

"Stop what?" he asked calmly. He hadn't been doing anything.

He felt blood trail down what was left of his cheek. He must've made a face that had pulled too hard on his scars.

Dabi smiled. "Looks like even the rejects are helping cause some chaos, huh, Eraser? The heroes couldn't keep this from happening," Dabi said, pointing at the street.

It was, after all, what he and the League had wanted to demonstrate. The failings of hero society. How ineffectual heroes really were. To show everyone that heroes couldn't always keep everyone safe. Did it really matter that it wasn't Dabi himself who'd done the attack? Of course, it was nowhere near the scale that the League wanted, but it was _something_.

Eraserhead gave him an unimpressed look.

Dabi didn't react to it.

"You're doing the right thing leaving them to the police."

Dabi was pretty sure he hadn't said any of his thoughts out loud. He narrowed his eyes at Eraserhead. "I just don't care enough to waste my time on them."

Eraserhead sighed. "That wasn't what I wanted to talk about, anyhow."

Dabi raised an eyebrow in question.

"Do you know where he could have gotten his hands on illegal drugs?"

With another quick glance at the street, Dabi guessed, "You talking quirk enhancers?" He frowned. "The League isn't weak enough to need that stuff."

Although, Dabi had been on the street long enough to know a few guys.

He didn't like ratting people out, but, if it meant getting rid of those drugs, he might make an exception.

He might could also ask Giran what he knew about quirk-related drugs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...This fic might be getting too serious. What do you guys think? Also, I'll probably switch the order of two future chapters. I was going to have the Fuyumi chapter, then the Hawks flashback chapter, then a pranking Shigaraki chapter—but I think I'll switch the order of the flashback and prank chapters. I'd like to post the prank chapter before next month (though I'm cutting it pretty close, since I haven't written it or the Fuyumi chapter yet).
> 
> I wrote a scene with Natsuo. ...I'm not sure how to make Natsuo in-character, sorry. But... he's studying to be a doctor, right, so he can talk about what I'd found online about DOMS (...which I now know the name of. It's that thing when you get sore one or two mornings after doing some kind of exercise or work). I'd thought of having Shouto ask Natsuo what Aizawa had called him about last weekend, but I couldn't find a good place to add that. Too bad, though. Now Natsuo won't have a reason to dig. Well, unless I have Shouto call him back later...
> 
> I'd wanted to have this chapter done Tuesday, but I kept changing the last half of the Dabi and Shouto phone call scene (and, because of that, had rethought the chapter ending as well). I think it was the first version that had Shouto mentioning the lava guy having a scar, Dabi vaguely remembering him, and then Dabi starting to argue with himself in his thoughts about several things. I eventually decided to let Eraserhead deal with that (although, originally, I wasn't wanting Dabi to find out at all. Or at least not in this chapter). I'd also had Shouto saying that Backdraft was asked to come to some kind of meeting and had told him not to come in to his work-study in the morning, so Shouto wasn't sure if he could still see Dabi because he wouldn't have an excuse for leaving campus. That'd led to Dabi realizing that Shouto had been asking permission every time he stepped off campus ('that explained a lot'). Dabi suggested asking Eraserhead what is and isn't allowed when living on campus, and said Eraserhead would let him go into town if he wants. However, despite me having thought of that vaguely mentioned meeting taking place that day, I also hadn't planned on it effecting the fic at first. When I realized who would probably go to that meeting (like Backdraft, because of the lava guy having had one of those sample drugs), I couldn't reconcile a few things (or at least, not neatly enough. Were too many excuses when I tried adding that stuff in. Even though I wasn't going to have the UA students there this time. ...Maybe. I hadn't decided for sure). So... there's probably a meeting at some point, sometime, about the quirk-erasing drugs and stuff. But it's not as big a deal as in the anime, since Eri's already safe. Or at least, everyone thinks she's safe. It's more about rounding up the drugs and finding out whether or not any permanent ones have been made yet. And arresting Overhaul.
> 
> Also, before I'd decided on the current ending for the phone call scene, I had thought of making the last scene with Dabi and Eraserhead take place in a dead-end alley, and Dabi watching the sky for Eraserhead—only for him to show up on foot for once. But once I'd switched the setting of the scene, today, to Dabi looking around at that damaged street, the words came a lot faster. (Also, I'd written Dabi as wearing the little jacket he'd worn that time at the park because it'd make him less noticeable for anyone who could be watching the crime scene, and also because Eraserhead's already seen him in it before. ...Not sure where he got that jacket, but if nothing else he could've just stolen it from someone.)
> 
> I would mention more about what Midoriya's doing, but I wasn't sure how to say it in-fic. I imagine him using one of those circle-drawing compasses, with the point centered where he would leave a gift and the drawing end measured out to match the distance based on time taken to retrieve the gift. That way, if all the circles intersect, I think that would mean he has a possible location for their base.


	11. Settling the Matter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dabi still denies being a Todoroki, and Fuyumi knows Touya’s face.

Fuyumi walked along the street toward a public park. She was taking her time and enjoying the short walk, smiling as she held her bag in both hands in front of her.

The weather was finally turning toward autumn, and she loved the cool breeze that ruffled her hair. She smiled a little wider whenever she passed someone, either nodding a polite hello, or waving at a child holding their parent's hand. She recognized a couple of the children from her school, though she hadn't seen one from her own class yet.

From this part of town, she could see UA; the fortress-like building sitting high on the hill, as though watching over the city.

Despite the way she grew up, Fuyumi had never thought badly about heroes. She had liked the idea of there being a special few who could protect the average people and keep them safe. She was proud of Shouto for going to UA and working toward becoming a pro hero.

She was looking forward to seeing her youngest brother again. It had been about a month since he had moved into the UA dorms. He was becoming another Natsuo, never coming to visit.

Her thoughts on _Dabi_ , however, were more complicated.

Despite what Shouto might think, she wasn't coming because she believed he was Touya.

She truthfully wasn't sure _what_ she believed. Based on what she knew so far, the villain didn't seem a thing like the person on the news. He had been portrayed as sadistic and threatening, as well as extremely dangerous. However, what Shouto had been saying about him, and what she'd heard with her own ears, belied that. He also had a curiously lacking criminal record for a member of the League of Villains—unknown identity or not. Not that anyone needed to know she had sneaked a peak at the League of Villains' files using Endeavor's access code.

However, the fact that he sounded nice over the phone didn't mean she hadn't gone to a hero about this meeting.

She had approached a hero she trusted to be level-headed. It was mostly for her and Shouto's protection. And because alerting the authorities about information on a villain was the right thing to do.

The hero had promised to be nearby and watch, but not interfere unless Dabi lashed out.

Fuyumi gave her surroundings a quick glance, wondering whether the hero was currently following her. However, he would most likely tail Shouto, or else had set up a stakeout at the park ahead of time. Whichever the case may be, knowing he would be watching from somewhere out of sight would make her feel much safer during this meeting.

As far as him being Touya, Fuyumi could understand Shouto's reasoning...

After the panic-inducing three-way phone call a few days ago, Shouto had explained his theory in full.

Basically, that Touya had faked his death because of their father, and recently joined the League of Villains despite not agreeing with them, in order to gain the resources needed to achieve some long-standing goal. A goal that was dangerous and not quite legal, which he didn't want the rest of his family involved in, but still missed them dearly.

Shouto had used that theory to explain why Shouto had first met Dabi close to their mother's hospital despite having never visited her, and why he kept denying being Touya but never stopped taking Shouto's calls.

Shouto had also mentioned that Dabi was good at twisting the truth. His words sometimes carried a double meaning, where they could be true literally but not figuratively, or vice versa. So the times he said that he wasn't Touya or that Endeavor wasn't his father could either be true at face value, or in the figurative sense like Natsuo used.

Fuyumi had decided she needed to see him in person to put the whole thing to rest. She would know her brother if she saw him, no matter what words came out of his mouth.

When she entered the park, she paused near the entrance to scan for the other two. There were several people here today. Some kids playing with a ball, a family having a picnic, a couple playing fetch with a dog, some kite-fliers.

It seemed no one had spotted a villain so far.

She wandered around the park, trying to find a quiet area where the two would've decided to meet.

Toward the rear of the park, there were a few redundant ball fields. Only the first ones were in use.

She finally found them sitting against the back side of a set of bleachers—and she only managed _that_ by following the sound of Shouto's voice.

Despite their voices sounding amiable, her heart skipped a beat when she saw orange and blue flames. It took her a second to realize they weren't attacking each other.

Shouto was twirling a ribbon of flame through the air.

"You're getting good at that," Dabi said.

"I can only control it as long as I maintain the connection to my hand, though. How come you can manipulate yours without contact?"

"I guess I'm just lucky like that," Dabi said with a mischievous grin.

Shouto reached over and shoved him and Dabi laughed. "But seriously, though," Dabi said, "it doesn't do me much good."

Shouto frowned, seeming to ponder on it. "All flames dissipate without fuel... What if you feed them? Like with wood pellets?"

Dabi hummed in thought. "The pellet fuel for fireplaces? I could try that."

Fuyumi wasn't sure whether someone else could have followed that vague line of thought—what were they planning on _doing_ with the pellets?—or if the two of them were somehow just that in tune with each other.

As she approached them, she noticed some little white cubes, pyramids, and spheres scattered across the ground. They looked like paperweights. Although they seemed to be half-melted.

She gasped. "Shouto, did you _make_ those?" she asked.

The two boys snapped their heads up.

"Oh—is it two already?" Shouto asked.

Fuyumi frowned at him. "Two thirty," she said.

"...I lost track of time."

"He planned on meeting you at the entrance like he had me," Dabi said.

"And just _how long_ were you two alone back here?"

Shouto tried to give her an innocent look. "Not long."

It seemed that Shouto had wanted to have some time alone with Dabi before she joined them, and hadn't told her. She squinted her eyes at Shouto in disapproval.

She hoped the hero she'd contacted had found them whenever it was they had first met, though at least it looked like nothing had happened besides them playing with their stupid quirks like grade school children. Behind the bleachers, no less.

However, there was no reason to add to the tension. Or more like... _introduce_ the tension—seeing as the two of them got along so well.

She put on a smile. "I'm Fuyumi Todoroki," she said.

"I know," Dabi said, looking up at her with half-lidded eyes.

"Right..." Then she smiled again. "So, what did the two of you want to do today?"

Dabi sighed and got to his feet. "Let's just get this over with. Do I look like Touya?" He spread his arms a bit, like he was halfheartedly presenting himself.

Shouto stood as well and gave them a bit of space, gazing at Fuyumi with a pleading expression.

She turned her eyes back to Dabi.

He was wearing a thin jacket, and a white shirt that looked too large on him. His face was horribly scarred and she knew, beneath his jacket sleeves, his arms were as well.

His eyes were bright blue, like her father's and Shouto's, and tired like Touya's. In the sunlight, parts of his hair glittered like copper.

Dabi's hair was spikier than Touya's had been, but that could be caused by hair products.

However, even with purpled scars and piercings, Fuyumi would recognize Touya's face. And...

"He's not Touya."

His eyes were similar. But the rest was different. The shape of his nose was wrong, the angle of his jaw was wrong. His hair might've been a shade of red, but it wasn't the burgundy red that she was so familiar with.

Shouto's face drooped to a sad frown.

Then Fuyumi looked at Dabi again.

She said, "Are you Endeavor's secret love child?"

He didn't even hesitate. " _No_."

An instant denial was a sure sign of a lie, right?

* * *

Izuku was sitting on a couch at the dorms.

He had wanted to go to town to buy what he'd needed for today's package and then stay to watch as Toga picked it up, but, for the first time in several days, Sir Nighteye had called him in for his work-study.

...And he was _very happy_ about his work-study, and working under Sir Nighteye—All-Might's previous sidekick—and it was a real honor to learn from him, and it's always been Izuku's dream to be a hero—

But he had been looking forward to today's test. He was so close to pinpointing the location of the League.

...And he wished he could see Toga's expression when she got the package.

Toga had told him a lot over the past few weeks. She was so willing to talk about her quirk, and even the quirks of her friends. Izuku's notebook entries have never been so detailed—save for Kacchan's and All Might's entries, at least.

But even besides that, Toga said so much about _herself_. She was a person who loved learning about people, finding out all she could about them. Just like Izuku.

Izuku would hate not being able to analyze people's quirks. He couldn't approve of Toga stabbing or killing people—nothing would make such actions right—but he knew what it felt like to have the urge to understand someone or something completely.

He had never met someone as obsessed as himself before. If things had been different, he knew they would've been friends.

He got out his phone to send her a text.

* * *

Being at the apartment right now was _boring_. Dabi wasn't around, and Himiko had nothing to do.

Her phone buzzed.

Izu must've been done with his work-study!

She texted with him for the next few minutes.

For some reason, Izuku asked if she was currently at their base.

She said yes, with a few fanged smileys, and learned that he was in the common area of his dorm building.

He said he had another present for her.

He said she should go get it as soon as possible.

She squealed and jumped off of the couch, running over to Kurogiri.

"Kurogiri! You go to the library sometimes, right? You know that one bench out in front?" she asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

He didn't say anything at first, but finally said, "Yes."

"Can you bring over a package that's sitting on that bench?"

Kurogiri opened a small portal, and Toga held her arms under it. A small, rectangular box plopped into her hands.

She twirled around, hugging the box, and then jumped back onto the couch and texted Izuku that it was wrapped in just the cutest wrapping paper.

Then she unwrapped it and lifted the box's lid—and gasped.

Lying delicately between layers of crinkled red tissue paper, was a small, silver-colored refrigerated containment cylinder, with a side window allowing her to see the blood within.

* * *

Amongst half of the students of class 1-A as they hung out on their day off, Izuku jumped to his feet and shouted, "The League of Villains' headquarters is in the basement of Mustafar's public library!"

The others in the room stared, and Midoriya stood frozen for a few seconds. Then he said, "Wait... That can't be right..."

He plopped back onto the couch and started mumbling. At one point saying something about forgetting the warp villain.

* * *

Dabi had assumed all of Endeavor's kids had red hair. In hindsight, he should have realized the white side of Shouto's hair wasn't just a fluke.

Fuyumi didn't look a thing like Dabi had imagined. But now he realized she was just like her brother.

"I'm not calling you Dabi."

He stared down at her, willing her to see he wasn't moving on this. "You just said I wasn't Touya."

She huffed. "I didn't _say_ I wanted to call you Touya. We just need something to call you other than _Dabi_."

He raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with Dabi?"

"It's a villain alias, not a name," Fuyumi stated. "Shouto and I want to talk to you as a _person_ , not you as a _villain_." She glanced at Shouto. "Right, Shouto?"

Shouto stared at her for a moment, wide-eyed. "...I just wanted to call someone 'Touya'." Then he added, turning his eyes to Dabi, "But I agree I want to talk to you as a person."

"Fine," Dabi sighed.

He frowned in thought. What could he give them that he wouldn't mind hearing, and wouldn't give away too much?

"...Aki."

His mother's name had been Akiko, but he would rather hear that than 'Hiro.'

Fuyumi lit up. "We match! I'm winter, Natsuo is summer, and you're autumn!"

Dabi opened his mouth to correct her—it wasn't the same 'aki' that meant autumn. But then he thought it might be better she call him 'autumn' than the more personal 'luminous'.

Although this meant he was _still_ going to be called something that wasn't his name.

* * *

Dabi was feeling a mix of things when he got back to the apartment, but he supposed he was mostly frustrated.

Everyone glanced up as he shut the door—perhaps slightly harder than normal.

"Hey, this is familiar. _It's completely different from before_. What happened this time?"

He really should learn to hold his tongue when frustrated. "I've been promoted to 'Aki the illegitimate half-brother'."

"Wait, Endeavor has an illegitimate kid?" Shigaraki asked.

"How should _I_ know?"

"How do we know you're _not_ his illegitimate kid?" Toga asked.

Dabi groaned. "How am I supposed to prove something like that false?"

"I could ask my boyfriend for a vial of Little Shouto's blood," she said happily. "Then we could do a comparison."

Shigaraki turned to stare at Toga for a few seconds. "Who in the world is your boyfriend?"

" _No_ , Toga," Dabi said.

"Aww, you're being protective of your brother?"

"He's still not my brother. And maybe I'm just not letting you around _my_ blood."

"Hmm... Aki..." Toga said, seeming to test out the name, "Aki Todoroki... Aaakii..."

"Don't call me that."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I've been misleading lately when it comes to answering questions about how soon the fic will end. ...But it's true that it's now known that he's not Touya, and that I see the fic ending if or when it becomes known that he's not a Todoroki. So it was true from a certain point of view.
> 
> I'd planned on Fuyumi asking Dabi that question and it mirroring the first chapter for such a long time.
> 
> I changed my mind about rearranging the next two chapters. I like how chapter thirteen just happens to be number thirteen. ...But I would still like to have it up before next month (if I can write it that fast), so I might have a lot of uploading happening this week. (I'd written the Hawks-related chapter a while ago, though, so I just need to read over it some.)
> 
> ...I'm unsure how I feel about giving Dabi telekinesis. I thought it sounded next, but now I'm not so sure it makes sense.
> 
> I had an idea pop into my head recently for a future story event, but I don't think it feels right for this fic. Been pondering on making an offshoot fic that's more serious than this one, because I thought it was a neat idea. But I'll need to wait and see.
> 
> Some stuff I'd decided to cut:
>
>> at least it looked like nothing had happened besides them playing with their stupid quirks like grade school children. Behind the bleachers, no less.  
> She had half a mind to pull them up by their ears.  
> Dabi leaned closer to Shouto, whispering with a straight face, “Your sister’s scary.”  
> Shouto whispered back, “She’s your sister, too.”  
> What was she doing? She shouldn’t be _adding_ to the tension—or apparently, _introducing_ the tension. “Shouto, we’ll talk about this later.”  
> Then she put her bag down and clapped her hands. “Okay!” she said with a grin, “I’m Fuyumi Todoroki. It’s good to meet you!”  
> Dabi glanced at her for a moment, before whispering to Shouto, “I change my mind. _Now_ she’s scary.”  
> Shouto nodded.
>
>> The coloring was streaky, but Fuyumi couldn’t label it as unnatural. Not in a world where quirks oftentimes affected strands of hair. Her own hair grew in alternating shades, after all. When she was little, she'd hated it when a red patch grew in at just the wrong place, and how her hair was so random and spotty. Nowadays, however, she embraced the chaos. And realized it would have been much worse if her hair grew evenly enough to look like a barber’s pole.


	12. Hero-Niichan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akihiro denies being some kind of hero, and a little chick imprints onto him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sad flashback chapter. It's the second chapter this week, and I'm planning one more, because I wanted to have ch.13 up before November.

For once, Dabi was alone at the apartment. Toga had left that morning looking particularly giddy, and Shigaraki had gone out the door two minutes ago, not bothering to turn off the TV. Maybe he'd actually thought Dabi was watching it and was trying to be considerate, but Dabi doubted it.

Even if Shigaraki _were_ trying to be nice, Dabi was still going to get even with the boss for framing him as a cookie thief a few days ago. Everything was already set up and just waiting for tonight.

The commercial on TV ended and a talk show came on. Pro hero Hawks strutted onto the stage with a huge grin that didn't reach his eyes. He turned in a circle, fluffing out his wings, and waved at the cheering audience before finally sitting down to talk to the host. Everything he said was flippant and felt disingenuous.

The number three hero had the most teeth-grindingly irritating personality. Dabi turned off the TV.

He was completely different from before.

* * *

(Sixteen years ago.)

He had been playing with the other kids, when the ball went over the fence and bounced into the street. The others groaned in disappointment, and he went up to the chain-link fence, wondering how to get the ball back.

It was then that some boy came along and picked it up, glancing left and right.

At first, he thought the boy was going to run off with it. It wouldn't be the first time it happened—they weren't in the best neighborhood and stuff tended to be finders-keepers.

But then, the boy used his quirk to fly over the tall fence with the ball.

He watched as the boy went straight over his head, openly gaping and turning around to follow the movement.

The boy landed right in front of him. Now he could see that the boy was a head shorter than him, probably two or three years younger.

"Um, here. You dropped this," the boy said quietly, holding the ball out to him. Though the boy's face was blank, his red feathers twitched like he was nervous.

He slowly reached out, taking the ball from him. "Thanks." He debated for a moment, fidgeting with the ball in his hands. Then said, "Do you want to join us?"

They played a few games.

As the sun started to set, the boy said, with a small, hesitant smile, "I'm Keigo."

"Akihiro," he returned, only to be polite.

The boy's golden eyes lit up, yet his voice held a distant quality. "Oh—that's a cool name."

Akihiro frowned. "I don't really like my name," he mumbled.

"But it sounds like the English word for hero." Keigo's smile became a touch wider.

* * *

Keigo visited every few days, sneaking over the fence when the adults weren't watching. Even when the adults _did_ glance in on Akihiro and the others, they didn't realize Keigo _wasn't_ one of theirs. With how unique his red wings were, it just went to show how little they paid attention.

The boy slowly began to make friends with all of them, but spent the most time with Akihiro. It puzzled Akihiro. Keigo was almost like a baby chick that kept following him around.

However, Akihiro also liked Keigo. The boy had different life experiences from the rest of them, and that made him interesting.

Though he could also be annoying at times.

"Hi, Hero-niichan," Keigo chirped as he landed.

"Don't call me that."

"But Hero- _nii_ ," he whined.

Akihiro put his hands over his ears, whining back, " _Stop_."

* * *

"Hero-niichan," Keigo said one day as the two of them sat side-by-side on the garden wall, "what's your quirk? You already know mine."

"I'm not a hero, Kei, please stop calling me that," he begged. Then he turned his eyes away from his friend, instead staring at his slightly scarred forearm. "...It's a fire quirk."

"That's really cool," Keigo said, emotion leaking into his voice.

"No it isn't," Akihiro said with a frown.

Keigo smiled. "You're funny, Hero-nii." Then he asked, "Will you show me sometime?"

"I don't know..." Akihiro said truthfully. "It's really dangerous and I can't control it very well."

"Maybe you just need more practice," Keigo said optimistically.

Akihiro's laugh was a touch bitter.

* * *

Akihiro and Keigo were climbing the huge tree beside the garden.

Keigo's quirk made it easier for him, but Akihiro was determined to prove he could reach just as high, because he was three years older, and older kids were always supposed to be better than younger ones.

They were only halfway up the tree so far.

Akihiro stretched his fingers out for the next limb.

Keigo was standing on the limb with his arms behind his back, gazing down at Akihiro.

"Why don't you like your name, Hero-niichan?" he asked, tilting his head.

Akihiro paused to study Keigo's expression. They had been friends for over a month now, and Akihiro was getting better at reading him—either that, or Keigo was getting freer with his expressions. "Which one? Akihiro or Hero-niichan?"

Keigo smiled as he chirped, "Yes."

Akihiro sighed. "I don't really like heroes," he admitted.

"Why?"

He reached again for the limb above him, and finally managed to grab a hold of it and pull himself up. He straddled the limb as he caught his breath.

His eyebrows furrowed as he thought about how to respond to Keigo's question. "I haven't really had good experiences with heroes," he decided on.

"Then you just haven't met the right ones."

"Maybe..." Akihiro said without commitment. He supposed it was _possible_ there were better heroes out there.

Keigo gazed out into the sky. "One day you'll meet a hero that'll change your mind, and then you'll realize how great they are." Then Keigo looked to Akihiro and smiled. "You remind me of my favorite hero, Hero-niichan."

Akihiro blinked in surprise. "I do?"

"Yeah, and he's the best hero there is. He's strong and never gives up."

"All Might?" Akihiro guessed in confusion.

"No, he's even better than All Might."

Akihiro had to admit, now he was curious.

* * *

When Akihiro saw the toy, he nearly set it on fire. Of course, with his luck, the toy probably would've been fireproof.

Keigo held the Endeavor toy up proudly. "I brought Endi-chan with me today," he said with a smile.

" _Endeavor_ is the hero you were talking about?" Akihiro asked incredulously. "I hate Endeavor. Why do you like _him_?"

"Because he saved me," Keigo said, a fond smile on his lips.

Akihiro scoffed.

A confused frown came to Keigo's face. "Why do you hate him?"

"Because he saved me," Akihiro repeated sardonically.

"Ah! Don't mock me Hero-Niisan, you're so mean."

"'You're so mean'," Akihiro mimicked, sticking out his tongue.

"Hero- _nii_!"

* * *

They were on the subject of heroes again. They sat in the grass, Akihiro leaning back on his elbows as he stared up at the drifting clouds and thought about the past. Keigo had shared his own life experiences with him, so it was only fair.

Though, he couldn't bring himself to ruin the boy's love for his favorite hero. So he shared something else.

"When I was a few years younger than you, I had an accident with my quirk. Some people came and took me in. I was really young. I didn't know who they even were. But they said they would take care of me, so I went with them. They praised me for my quirk, saying it was really powerful, saying they could teach me how to control it."

He continued, "When I was six, they started training me, saying I could be a hero, that I would be a good hero if I practiced more with my quirk."

Keigo's mouth formed an amazed circle. "You got to have real hero training, Hero-niichan?"

Akihiro let out an amused, yet bitter, huff. "Not for long. I only managed to burn myself and whatever was unlucky enough to be near me. Nothing they tried made my flames stop hurting me. So they said I'm not good enough for them. Not what they're looking for. They gave up on me and dumped me here. They hadn't really wanted me for me." He laughed then. "But I can't blame them, right? No one else wants me, either. I'm too dangerous. It's what they all say. A kid with an uncontrollable fire quirk. No one would want to adopt me. Only makes sense that even the heroes would abandon me, right?"

Keigo frowned. "They don't sound like heroes," he said skeptically.

Akihiro just shrugged.

The two of them watched the clouds for a few minutes.

"I know," Keigo said, "we could be each other's heroes. _I'll_ never abandon you, Hero-niichan. We'll be friends forever."

Akihiro hummed in thought. It was true Keigo had never let him down before. Maybe he could stand to be a little optimistic.

* * *

That had been the last time Keigo had come to visit him at the orphanage.

He hadn't seen Keigo again until about a decade later, when the news showed a young hero with a fake smile, who didn't seem to care about anything but catering to his fans as he rose in the ranks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...that make sense? I tried.
> 
> Next chapter, Dabi, Toga, and Kurogiri play a trick on Shigaraki. (After thinking up the prank around the start of the month, I realized there was a possibility the chapter would go up close to Halloween—but then the timing ended up off, so that's why I'd decided to write as fast as possible and upload all this stuff this week.) I was originally going to make the prank scene be from Shigaraki's pov, but then I changed my mind and thought I'd write it from an outside pov like the bleach prank. Here's a little preview, using what I'd written before deciding to change the pov.
>
>> "Are you certain this will not _injure_ Tomura Shigaraki?" Kurogiri asked.
>> 
>> "Nah, it'll only be a few feet," Dabi said, waving off Kurogiri's concern.
>> 
>> "Look, see, we can put a mat under him," Toga said.
>> 
>> * * *
>> 
>> Shigaraki woke up just before hitting the floor. He landed wrong, limbs twisting, one arm half under him. All five fingers touched something that disintegrated beneath him.
>> 
>> He blinked up at the dim ceiling above him, feeling addled.
>> 
>> ...had he fallen out of bed?
>> 
>> He pushed himself to a sitting position.
>> 
>> This wasn't his room.
>> 
>> It _resembled_ his room. It was the same size and the window and doors were in the same locations. But it was completely empty of furniture, and was kind of creepy and cold.
>> 
>> Where _was_ he?


	13. The Other Apartment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dabi, Toga, and Kurogiri prank Shigaraki, but it doesn't turn out the way they'd expected.

"Are you certain this will not _injure_ Tomura Shigaraki?" Kurogiri asked.

"Nah, it'll only be a couple meters," Dabi said, waving off Kurogiri's concern.

"Look, see, we can put a mat under him," Toga said.

Kurogiri didn't say anything to that, so Dabi figured that meant agreement, and Toga went to get a mat.

The three of them were in an empty room located exactly above the room officially designated as Shigaraki's.

Kurogiri was the one to come up with the idea of using the apartment above theirs for the prank, and had made whatever arrangements needed to make it possible.

Dabi wasn't sure exactly what the deal was with the small apartment building. It had one apartment per floor and the League only used the ground floor, so it seemed that the building wasn't empty, but Dabi had never seen anyone else around. The big boss had been the one to give them the apartment, however, so Dabi had assumed it was safe.

Whatever the situation was, Kurogiri had somehow gotten use of the apartment above theirs.

The floor plan was the same, so it was basically a cleared-out version of their apartment.

Whoever had been using it apparently had no use for this particular room, since it had been covered in dust. The three of them had left it as it was—dust and spider webs and all.

Toga came back in with the mat and carefully positioned it before stepping back.

Dabi glanced toward Kurogiri without turning his head. "He asleep?"

Kurogiri's mist overtook the right side of his suit as he used his quirk.

"Yes," he said after a few seconds, returning to his original form.

"Good," Dabi said and smirked. "Let's get this started."

Toga clapped her hands.

A second later, the three of them were on the fire escape outside the window.

Within the room, one of Kurogiri's portals formed in midair above the mat, dropping Shigaraki to the floor.

Dabi nearly snorted when one of Shigaraki's hands disintegrated the mat.

Shigaraki sat up and looked around the room in confusion.

It was too bad Shigaraki's expressions were hard to see clearly in the dark, but at least he didn't have one of those stupid hands on his face right now. Plus, the widening of his eyes was only emphasized by the darkness of the room.

Right next to Dabi—their heads nearly touching as they peered through the window—Toga covered her mouth with both hands to muffle her laugher.

Shigaraki wandered around the empty room, his movements gradually becoming more jerky and abrupt.

If the three of them had guessed right, he would assume it was his room, and that something strange had happened.

Shigaraki tried the light switch—the floor's electricity was off—flicking it on and off several times. He abruptly jerked the door open, shouting, "Kurogiri?!" and ran into the hallway and out of sight.

"Dabi, did you see that?" Toga whispered, nudging his shoulder. "He disintegrated the doorknob," she said with a giggle.

Squinting a bit, Dabi did see part of a doorknob lying on the floor—a fifth finger must've brushed against it briefly. "Yeah," he said. "Come on." He nodded toward the far window.

He started walking across the metal slats that spanned the width of the building, trying not to make much noise. They needed to go slowly so there'd be less chance of him hearing them, but they were going to miss his first reaction to the living room.

And then one of Kurogiri's portals formed right in front of Dabi. Well, that would make it easier.

He stepped into the portal, and stepped out in front of the other window. He moved over a little to allow room for Toga and Kurogiri, and looked in from the edge of the window.

Shigaraki's face was more noticeably distressed now, his eyes wide and head jerking from side to side as he took in the empty living room. No couch or television monitor or coffee table or various knickknacks Kurogiri had brought in for atmosphere—just a large, devoid space.

"Kurogiri? Mr. Compress?" Shigaraki asked. His voice echoed slightly. "Toga? This isn't funny."

Actually, it really was. And it was about to get funnier.

Dabi reached into the pocket of his trench coat, taking out one wood pellet. "Duck," he whispered to the others—he couldn't have Shigaraki seeing their silhouettes in the window. Gripping the pellet in his hand, he waited until it grew hot, and then ignited it with a fist-sized blue flame. The coolest he could muster—which, when it came to fire, was still a few hundred degrees.

Concentrating on keeping it the right shape, he tossed it into the air and waved it through the open window.

"Dabi?" Shigaraki asked.

As long as an object, like the pellet, was infused with his flames, he found he could move it. However, the pellet wouldn't last long, and the flame would go out once it ran out of fuel.

He could feel a connection with his fire, even from a distance, and when he pushed with his hand, it was like the flame was still brushing against his fingers.

It was too bad he hadn't figured this stuff out years ago. He'd been too certain of what his quirk was capable of to experiment to this extent.

He waved his hand around, pulling and pushing at the small flame to make sure Shigaraki could tell it was floating in midair.

He directed it around the edges of the room, not wanting Shigaraki to feel the heat. Which wasn't hard, since Shigaraki did all he could to stay away from it now that he knew Dabi wasn't attached.

Another reason Dabi had the flame slowly circle the room was to shed some light on the 'decorations' on the walls.

That was Toga's part in their prank. She'd had fun covering the living room walls with blood. Since she was no stranger to crime scenes, she had recreated blood patterns. From knife spatter to bloody handprints to stains on the floor. Despite first claiming it to be a waste of good blood, she'd seemed pretty manic as she'd danced around laughing. Dabi hadn't stuck around. Although he had seen the final results when they'd come upstairs about an hour ago.

Dabi needed to focus on controlling his flame, so he couldn't pay attention to Shigaraki's reactions, but he could feel Toga's shoulders shaking in silent laughter, so it must've been good.

He dug out a second pellet and repeated the process, adding another little blue flame to the mix before the first burned out. He directed it with his other hand.

Shigaraki shrieked.

Dabi blinked, and Kurogiri was in the room beside Shigaraki, the latter sitting on the floor with his hands at his neck.

"Tomura Shigaraki, you are safe."

Shigaraki started babbling about ghosts and the members of the League and hero raids.

"None of this is real," Kurogiri said. "I apologize. I did not foresee this prank effecting you so."

The wide-eyed look slowly morphed to confusion, and then anger.

"Kurogiri, _you_ —!"

Shigaraki's hand darted out, and appeared harmlessly in another part of the room.

"I am sorry, Tomura Shigaraki," Kurogiri said again.

"Who else was involved in this?!" Shigaraki demanded. "I'll kill them!"

"I take full responsibility," Kurogiri said.

"That's not what I asked—tell me who else is here!"

Dabi felt Toga tapping his shoulder, and he turned to see her pointing behind them, at one of Kurogiri's portals.

* * *

To Dabi's surprise, the portal brought them back to the living room of their normal apartment. He'd almost expected to end up halfway across the country—Shigaraki'd seemed pretty upset.

He was uncertain about whether he should leave the apartment and lay low for a few days, or if Kurogiri'd had a reason to bring them here specifically. Dabi decided to wait for Kurogiri to tell them something.

He chose to lean against the wall so it would be easier to fight or to run, but Toga chose the couch. She frowned as she fiddled with a knife in her lap, seeming unusually melancholy.

It was true the three of them hadn't thought through any consequences for the prank. Perhaps they had gone a little too far.

He had no idea what Kurogiri was saying to Shigaraki a floor above them, but objects started disappearing through small portals.

After an unknown amount of time, a large portal formed within the room.

Shigaraki stepped out, a severed hand back on his face, and Dabi and Toga tensed.

"Don't you _dare_ pull something like that again—or I'll ground your atoms into the floor."

Then Shigaraki raised his arms in an open, friendly gesture. "But I can be reasonable. Let's go back to the last save point and try this again."

Shigaraki then gave each of them a hard look. "You're going to put on that show for all the other members of the League. And I'm going to be in on it and watch each one."

* * *

Over the next several nights, they would perform the prank over and over. It had quickly become more of a chore than something fun, and Dabi was starting to feel the effects of lack of sleep. Plus, it also cut into his meeting times, and made it harder to investigate the illegal drugs.

However, Shigaraki loved every moment, wearing a toothy grin as other members of the League ended up just as scared as he'd been.

Shigaraki had added his own little touches to the haunted apartment, adding some partially decayed duplicate furniture and improving on the aged look, making it seem as though the apartment was stuck in a time long past.

He also had an easy way of making the other rooms look dusty.

Spinner's turn had been fun. He'd actually climbed the living room wall and huddled in the middle of the ceiling.

In response, Dabi had manipulated one of his flames to hover closer to the lizard and form a face, causing Spinner to yell and drop to the floor.

It had been going well with Magne, until she activated her quirk and caused all of them to bang heads with Toga. She had then went over to the window and put her hands on her hips, giving them a disappointed talk. None of them were sure how to react to that.

Toga had disagreed with making Twice go through it, and, since she didn't have an active roll, was able to catch up on sleep rather than watch Twice zigzagging around the living room as he tried to run in two different directions. He seemed to take it hard, but when it was over, he said he'd loved it.

And also that he never wanted to do it again.

Mr. Compress's turn was... interesting...

"Ah, bravo, Dabi. A unique and rather ingenious way to use your quirk! And I believe the beautiful wall art is Toga's doing—very authentic. And of course, Shigaraki's rotting furniture gives a nice atmosphere."

Mr. Compress had seemed to know from the very beginning. Even praising Kurogiri for starting the show with a bang. However, everyone swore they hadn't warned him, and he claimed he just had a good eye for illusion. He also said it had been very entertaining, and that he would like to experience any future shows they might put on.

After everyone had taken a turn, the League gained full use of the second apartment. With how often random League members were wanting to spend the night, the extra space was needed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Halloween. Although it's technically still September in-fic, I think.
> 
> Sorry, there wasn't an opportunity for Dabi to deny being a todoroki in this chapter.
> 
> I wrote the chapter from Dabi's pov because I realized Shigaraki's pov would probably be kinda dark and serious. Hopefully having the observer pov makes it funnier, or at least somewhat interesting.
> 
> Not sure when I'll have the next chapter written. After three chapters back-to-back, I might take a little break.


End file.
